Is Chiropracty trustworthy?

population

Just wondering peoples opinions on this.

I woke up with some back pain last September and gradually it went from being a bit of a nuisance to something that could seriously impact on my day. My landlord is an opthamologist and he recommended me to go see an osteopath he knew. The osteopath did an xray and a ct scan and said that I had evidence of some arthritis in my lower back and a small hernia in the nucleus of my lowest disc. He then said to me that in his opinion the hernia was too small to warrant surgery, and that taking anti inflammatories would only help short term.

He recommended I go see a Chiropractor he knew and with his help, after 4 or so sessions the Chiropractor could manipulate the hernia back in through allignment. Went to see the chiropractor and the first session was quite intense and included a weird neck flick thing which unnerved me a little. After the session he told me to come back after the weekend and he would explain to me what needed to be done. So I went back today and he told me that he can fix the herniated nucleus, allign my back and help me put preventitve measures in place to avoid any reoccurence and safeguard against the arthritis becoming an issue. He then told me that this process would take 16 visits, not 4, and each visit is 90euro. Now in short I was taken aback by this and started to get the distinct impression that this was a shakedown. The guy comes highly recommended but I really dont know what to do. I since spoke to a nurse I know and she told me in her opinion Chiropracty in general is bunkum and I will probably end up needing surgery afterwards anyway.

I am paying for all this myself as I am living in Italy and cant get the state healthcare because of some complicated reasons, and I just feel very nervous about dropping that kind of money which I can ill afford on something that could be spurious.

Any opinions appreciated. Sorry for the long post.

Larianne

I've been told by a doctor that Chiros aren't great. But then I am training to be a Physiotherapist.

I think if you feel uneasy with any therapist or medical professional, you probably should seek a 2nd opinion. If it was my back, I'd want to be 100% sure on the person treating it.

sam34

a) we cant advice you specifically whether or not to continue wth this

b) taking advice on a back injury from an ophthalmologist is not a great idea

c) lots of general threads on chiropractors here on this forum already, so i'll lock this one