Are Chiropractors Rip-Offs And Scam Artists?

[Kommander_KornFlakes]

-
I want to visit a chiropractor due to a sustained lower backpain but want to know if these guys are like Canadian Tire mechanics that make you buy half an engine to fix a minor defect.

I have a friend who went to a chiropractor and told me that they hoodwinked him for 3 months with silly "sessions" that costed his insurance company about $175 for each 1-hour visit. He thinks they could had done the job of correcting his problem in just 2 or 3 visits, not 15.

I have an excellent health insurance but I sure don't want to make these guys rich without me getting nothing out of it, I mean it's not that I want a "cut", I simply don't want to run out the money in my fund because I want to use some of it on dental later on this year.

Has anyone here gone to a chiropractor for a back pain? How many "sessions" were you given, what were their techniques, and did they cured you of your malady?

[dnyc]

i use to go to one last year... what your friend had sounds like a scam if what you're saying is true.. a session should cost around 30-60 a session and at most a session should only last 5-10 minutes. 1 hour is overkill as theres only so much to crack around your body. when i use to go it was crack my neck left and right, crack my upper mid spine.. and lastly lower left and and right back, total 5-10 minutes..

[goldenegg]

He thinks they could had done the job of correcting his problem in just 2 or 3 visits, not 15.

I find it funny when people self diagnose. If your friend thought he wasn't getting proper treatment, he should have gone elsewhere.

Talk to your doctor about the problem you're experiencing. It could be that a chiropractor isn't even the best option for your back pain.

[Kommander_KornFlakes]

i use to go to one last year... what your friend had sounds like a scam if what you're saying is true.. a session should cost around 30-60 a session and at most a session should only last 5-10 minutes. 1 hour is overkill as theres only so much to crack around your body. when i use to go it was crack my neck left and right, crack my upper mid spine.. and lastly lower left and and right back, total 5-10 minutes..

But how many times did you had to go? $60 for 5 minutes?? That's even more of a rip-off to me.

My friend's sessions were LONG, he says on each visit they cracked his spine, pulled his legs forward with his knee almost touching his chin and put "electric stimilus" wires on his lower back for up to 20 mins, all of this in each session. They also massaged his entire back and neck, again for a prolonged period.

Did they get rid of your pain/problem?

[Owbist]

Your friend who had 15 sessions before deciding he was getting ripped off does not seem the brightest candidate.

Go to one yourself and allow them to examine and make recommendations. Then you can draw a conclusion for yourself.

[Kommander_KornFlakes]

Talk to your doctor about the problem you're experiencing. It could be that a chiropractor isn't even the best option for your back pain.

Somebody told me that a doctor has to "refer me", but the chiropractor clinic at 16th Ave and Bathurst (Markham) has a sign that reads "doctor referals not needed".

[dnyc]

well i had student price, so it was i think 28 dollars a session for me adult was like around 30-40 each session... i went to the one on bathurst and dupont.. i went to a lot of sessions.. i use to have major shoulder pains that won't go away, i took tons of ibuprofen pills to relieve the pain to the point where it doesnt even work anymore. since i went i've had no more pains on my shoulder but as my shoulder healed i got lower back pains, but then i stopped going e ventually as i had other commitments to make, i learned how to crack my lower back myself which i know is probably really bad, but i go the gym now.. which really helps strengthen my back

[stillmatic11]

It sounds like your friend got an all-in one package basically of a massage, physiotherapy and chiropractor treatment all in 1 visit. If he didn't feel all that was necessary, then he should have specified what he wanted.

You don't need a referral to walk into a chiropractor office. Most of them accept walk-ins, so whoever told you that is wrong.

I would say it's usually more like 30-45 dollars a session at most places and they can take anywhere from 5-15 minutes typically depending on your condition.

To call them scam artists is pretty ******** considering you actually have to go to school for it and be licensed to practice. With that said, there are certainly some quacks out there, so you may need to search around to find one that's legit.

The best thing to do is to give it a try and see if it works for you. In my opinion, it's an excellent non surgical option that's helped me out greatly. It is very costly though, but I've found it's worth it because it's allowed me to get up out of bed relatively pain free whereas before I didn't.

There's also going to be an initial assessment fee of somewhere around $75 for them to find your problem areas and just to have an overall exam of where pain is coming from and what is misaligned.

[molala]

Somebody told me that a doctor has to "refer me", but the chiropractor clinic at 16th Ave and Bathurst (Markham) has a sign that reads "doctor referals not needed".

There's no such intersection as 16th/Bathurst...it must be Carrville/Bathurst and it's not Markham neither..

$178/session? Either you or your friend is making it up. In fact, insurance company has limit on how much to cover per session cos a small portion of chiro is still covered by OHIP

[goldenegg]

Somebody told me that a doctor has to "refer me", but the chiropractor clinic at 16th Ave and Bathurst (Markham) has a sign that reads "doctor referals not needed".

It doesn't matter whether or not a referral is needed. It's just 'best practice' to get advice from your doctor first.

[hoopsandyoyo]

Somebody told me that a doctor has to "refer me", but the chiropractor clinic at 16th Ave and Bathurst (Markham) has a sign that reads "doctor referals not needed".

yeah thats probably not a smart idea to go to that.

I don't understand the issue with going to your gp to get a referral. Don't you trust your gp?

[kkl1208]

Like any other professions, there are good chiropractors and not so good ones. If you feel uncomfortable, go to http://www.chiropractic.on.ca/ and check out what you can expect in your first session and subsequent sessions. You do not need a medical doctor's referral. On average, initial visit is around $60-80 and subsequent visits are anywhere from 40-60. These are obviously just the normal range, some are cheaper while other are more expensive. As for the person that had $175 per visit to the chiropractor, was this person in a motor vehicle accident? Because of the more extensive therapy required by some MVA cases, the practitioner can charge a bit more. But if this is just a private patient, then 175 per visit is too much, and one that even the insurance company will not accept. So there must be some sort of misunderstanding there. If you need further help on this, PM me.

[Kommander_KornFlakes]

There's no such intersection as 16th/Bathurst...it must be Carrville/Bathurst and it's not Markham neither..

My mistake, it's actually Elgin Mills/Bathurst, got the street confused since they almost run parallel to each other (16th ave and Elgin Mills).

There's also going to be an initial assessment fee of somewhere around $75 for them to find your problem areas and just to have an overall exam of where pain is coming from and what is misaligned.

Do they do an x-ray of your column? Or they just diagnose you based on your pain areas?

I don't understand the issue with going to your gp to get a referral. Don't you trust your gp?

This is absurd, why the hell do I need my doctor to refer me or decide if I need a chiropractor or not? I'm the one with the pain and I know MORE than him what's wrong with my body. My doctor is located at College & Bathurst near China Town, I'm not going to go all the way there to ask him something that I already know, that my back hurts and that I need a chiropractor.

What's my general physician going to do? Prescribe Tylenol 3 and send me home?

[Impossibles]

You don't need a doctor's refferal to see a chiro, in fact most doctors won't refer you to a chiro. Doctors are trained to treat things two ways...medicine or surgery.

Chiros are not for everybody, but for me, my mom, and my girlfriend, they work great. The human body was never designed to sit in place for hours on end or huddled over a keyboard...everything gets pulled out of whack and thats why we get aches and pains all over. Chiros will help with chronic pain and stiffness.

[stillmatic11]

Do they do an x-ray of your column? Or they just diagnose you based on your pain areas?

I think they use a computer program thats hooked up to some sticky pads, which get attached to your back area to measure body temperature to identify problem areas, subluxations and etc. I'm not entirely sure how it exactly it works, but I would say that is approximately what happens from what I understand.