Chiropractic therapies, often known as spinal manipulation, involve the application of pressure in a manner that relieves back pain and makes your spine and the whole back feel more comfortable. Besides these and many other benefits that come with spinal manipulation, it also has its own risks, among them being spinal injuries. A chiropractor can hurt your back because of several reasons. This article looks at some instances when a chiropractor can hurt your back.
- A Quack
Although they rarely do occur, accidents and risks are possible from a chiropractic therapy. These isolated cases occur when a patient falls into the wrong hands of unqualified and uncertified chiropractors. These are very dangerous since they do not know how much pressure they should apply or what techniques they should use in performing the therapy. To avoid this, you should always ensure that you check a chiropractor’s qualification and certification before allowing them to work on you.
- Repeat Treatment
Sometimes cases occur where a patient gets their backs hurt by one chiropractor by using the wrong method or too much force. In case this happens, many people tend to make the mistake of looking for a different chiropractor to correct the problem. This is wrong because a different chiropractor only hurts your back even more. To avoid making this mistake, you should see an orthopedist immediately.
- Too Much Force
Another mistake that inexperienced and under-qualified chiropractors make is to use so much force than necessary without remembering that the back contains a delicate spinal cord that should be handled with utmost care. A good chiropractor uses moderate force to manipulate the spine and if too much of it is used, it will instead worsen the condition.
- The Wrong Strokes
A patient may have their backs hurt by chiropractors who are under qualified and inexperienced since most of them do know the right strokes to use on the delicate backs, thus hurting your back, which results to even more pain. For the lower back and shoulders, the therapist should place both hands on your back as you lie flat with your stomach and press the back gently. For the middle and upper back, the patient should be seated and the chiropractor manipulates the back by giving it a little push forward, with moderate force.
- Misinformed Patients
Most people have preconceived ideas that for spinal manipulation to be effective, the chiropractor must do it such that it produces a pop sound. What they do not know is that the pop sound is a result of the air escaping from the back discs and not a sign of prowess of the chiropractor. In a bid to display their prowess, the therapist may be forced to keep applying more pressure on the delicate back until it produces a pop. The force may be too much such that they may have hurt the back.
Artery Tears
As a result of a chiropractor’s under qualification and inexperience, they may use the wrong strokes to manipulate the spine or even apply too much force. In such a situation, the chiropractor may end up causing rupture of the artery that takes blood to the back, in which case the patient may experience severe back pain and in some rare cases, a stroke is imminent.
- Disc Injuries
An inexperienced and under-qualified chiropractor may hurt your back and cause you to leave with more back pain than you came with. Although it rarely occurs, once it does happen, it is because of many reasons and one of them is because of the application of excessive force that injures the discs instead of aligning them properly. Remember that back and shoulder pain occurs because of misaligned discs and this is one of the main reasons why we visit chiropractors for them to realign the discs properly. If your chiropractor mishandles you, they may cause injuries to the discs, making your condition even worse.
You should never take chances with your body. Therefore, you should do everything in your power to ensure that you do not fall in the wrong hands of quacks. Do not pay so much of your hard-earned money only for someone to experiment with your body since this does not only hurt your back, but it may also result in more severe injuries that may end up in stroke or paralysis and even death. That being said, ensure that the therapist to whom you entrust your back is qualified and certified by checking their customer reviews and ratings.