Kickas.org Forums Ankylosing Spondylitis General Discussion #1 AS Web Support Group I've asked this question before, but.....

....no one answered

We're told not to go to a chiro, because they can cause damage, right? What is bad about it? Is it the bone cracking that's bad? Is it harmful if you crack your own back, or is it just when other people do it?

I'm asking because right after I started Humira for the first time, my back snapped, crackled, and popped every time I stretched or bent into a position I hadn't been able to before. That lasted for a few days. I then took a month-long break from the drug because I couldn't get an appointment in time for a refill, so I ended up missing 3 doses. I finally got the refill and took it yesterday afternoon, and today my back is popping like crazy. It doesn't hurt, it actually feels really good. So good that I'm wondering why going to a chiro is such a bad thing?

Hello Scarlet,

I avoid chiros by choice. I would fear when they are making adjustments, they could break a "fused" bone. I assume this would be extremely painful.

If you are very early in AS and have no fusion, there may be some merit. That would be only circumstance in which I may consult one.

Early on with AS and when I did very well with azulfadine, I was still able to go to gyms to workout with exercise cycles, circuit weights and swim laps. I would stretch before and after exercising and many times could get bone to pop with my exercises. But those were days before much fusion in back.. only had fusion in SIs at the time.

Today, I would not consider going to chiro.

My 2 cents

Tim

I have gone and would continue to go if our insurance paid for it BUT I have been with this chiro for like 20 years and I trust him, he has been with me thru car accidents. I would make sure that you knew this chiro, checked out if he has any claims against him, ask him or his staff if he has expertise in AS or other spine disorders.

I think its a personal choice AND if it helps you or not.

Hugs

i went to a chiro recommended by a colleague who was a "bone cracker" as i found out when i got there. i wouldn't let him do that so he just did ultrasound when i needed it.

i was sent to another chiro by my physiatrist for my SI joint. he too was a "bone cracker" and told me that he'd do me more harm than good and sent me on my way.

he sent me to a chiro that used an adjustor / activator instrument. similar to what kat talks about on here. i figured that was pretty safe because kat's been having that done for a long time. but also didn't feel like that was my main problem, wanted to go to someone who could address the bigger picture. so i didn't return. plus i had read that even an activator used on the neck could be potentially dangerous and that was one of my biggest trouble spots. another reason i decided not to pursue that avenue at that time.

then august 2010, i started having the really severe upper back pain that i had had in august 2009. i knew going back to the PT, physiatrist, GP, and rheumatologist that i went to the previous year would give me the same results, nada. thus in desperation, i got on the internet and found a chiro that sounded "different" so i went for a consult. he discovered that i had a rib stuck under my shoulder blade. what all those other doctors couldn't fix in months the year before, he fixed in 30 seconds by gently pressing on it to release it. i've been to him twice a week for 9 months now. he doesn't "crack my bones", he's gentle, he presses gently on things to get things moving when they get stuck.

i'm not fused so i probably have lower risk and still i wouldn't let anyone "crack my back".

i think it just depends on who you go to. like any profession, there are all ranges of ability and knowledge.

a lot of people say its safer to just not go.

but for me, if i hadn't gone, i'd be on disability right now. i was only a few days from it when i found my chiro.

as you've said, this has been a big debate here, so i'm sure others will say just don't go. but if i had taken that advice, i'd be disabled right about now. he's given me my life back.

as for joints "cracking on their own", my understanding is, that's fine in general.

It's bad if your joints, spine especially, have ankylosed. The ankylosing part of AS causes growth of more bone which can shatter and pierce your organs and spinal cord. Look up "bamboo spine" on the Internet. Glad your crackling feels good.

Hello, Scarlet83:

In the early stages of AS, chiropractic manipulations can be beneficial in maintaining ROM and offering some relief. However, once a joint is ankylosed, such a procedure can cause problems.

I always went to "bone-crackers" (Palmer school) and once believed I could not live without a chiropractor or two in my life. In fact I still have one I went to when I broke my back and pleaded with him to try to put me back right (before I knew back was broken)--try as he might with his 260# linebacker frame, he was unable to kill me or even make me worse. Of course no help, either--that eventually required Harrington rods.

Since doing DIET+antibiotics (and eliminating NSAIDs), I have no longer felt the need for the good bone crunch, but I always remember my big German chiro lady would love it whenever I fasted, because she was able to "adjust" me almost effortlessly. She recommended fasting to another patient with arthritis and told me "Zot Fot Vooman! Auch, tot I vas tryink to kill her--She could fast for monts--und she shouldt!!"

HEALTH,
John

I would not go to a Chiro unless he x-rayed the back first to see the progression of AS in the area being adjusted. If fussion or bone spurs were spotted. Adjustments could do more harm than releif. My Father went in at age 86 for a treatment. Chiro did not x-ray. Small fragments loged in spine for the small bone spurs he was developing he has spent 3 years now in more pain that before.

P.S. Just as an aside, a chiropractor broke my husband's neck in 1995. He had to have emergency surgery and have two of his neck vertebrae fused. He doesn't even have arthritis of any kind. The attorney told him then that countless numbers of people leave chiro offices with broken spines, but they are protected because when patients go in they fill out specific "where does it hurt" paperwork. So, the chiro can say ~~~ well, they were hurt when they came in. Sorry if anyone here is a chiro and gets offended, but it's a true story. Nobody in our family has been to a chiropractor for 16 years because of my hubbys injury.

Hi Scarlet,

Some years back, when I was first diagnosed with AS, I had a good friend who was a Chiropractic Dr. I asked him if he thought it would be a good idea for me to use his services. He told me that under no circumstances would he give me an adjustment, having been diagnosed with AS. He said he was concerned about insurance problems should he "break" my back. I don't know if a Chiropractic adjustment would have caused any problems or not since, based on his advice, I never visited one. Intuitively, it would seem to be a bad thing to be moving a "bamboo spine", but I know that there are a lot of good, counterintuitive things out there. Nonetheless, I have stayed away based on my friends advice.