Is going to acupuncture/chiropractor relaxing, like massage therapy?

Uhhhh no

Sometimes I like to pick chiro brains on pain / biomechanics stuff.

Never liked accupuncture, never believed in it. Not that I agree with chiros central philosophical tenets, but they do learn some useful physio & injury prevention stuff and cost less.

But hey, I try everything at least once.

Another big …

Uhhh no !!!



It might feel good afterwards …
But I’m not willing to try
The whole concept creeps me out
And sometimes stuff goes terribly wrong

I guess tho if someone lives with chronic pain daily
They’ll do anything for some relief

I tried chiro years ago... too many sports injuries and playing with injuries... have still not learned

The chiro did a few sessions of manipulations but did not help me. SO he said since cracking neck to right did not help let's try to the left!!

I never went back after that session.

Standard chiro will not be relaxing.

Believe it or not, quite a few people feel acupuncture is relaxing, minus the part where the needles go in, of course.

IMO, still nothing on massage. Something about the thought of needles sticking out of you for a while seems a little unsettling.

Acupuncture is placebo. Which works for those who fall for the placebo effect.

Chiropractic is not, but it has its place and they like to stray way out of their lane.

Their many exaggerated claims are ridiculous.
Realignment does help with certain specific types of pain and can help heal certain physical injuries properly. Though i am more partial to the activator instead of the cracking, less likely to cause other injury and far less hurt after the treatment.

But its not like massage. Apples and Oranges.

Quentin5 wrote: ↑ Acupuncture is placebo. Which works for those who fall for the placebo effect.

Chiropractic is not, but it has its place and they like to stray way out of their lane.

Their many exaggerated claims are ridiculous.
Realignment does help with certain specific types of pain and can help heal certain physical injuries properly. Though i am more partial to the activator instead of the cracking, less likely to cause other injury and far less hurt after the treatment.

But its not like massage. Apples and Oranges.

Some could argue it actually isn't necessarily all placebo, though undoubtedly is plays a role (though this can be said for almost everything). It's placebo if you try to explain it entirely through the lens of alternative medicine (i.e. energy flow). But there can be interpretations that are accepted western/scientific viewpoints that can plausibly be applied to acupuncture (i.e. effects on the nervous system).

For purely MSK/neuropathic pain, if one was to look at charts/points that are utilized for things like trigger point injections, IMS/dry needling, etc., some of them line up pretty well with certain acupuncture points. Obviously this explanation doesn't hold up for stuff that's related to things like visceral complaints, but it's food for thought.

Regardless, even if placebo, if it helps... oh well!

Phonophoresis wrote: ↑ For purely MSK/neuropathic pain, if one was to look at charts/points that are utilized for things like trigger point injections, IMS/dry needling, etc., some of them line up pretty well with certain acupuncture points. Obviously this explanation doesn't hold up for stuff that's related to things like visceral complaints, but it's food for thought.

A stopped clock is right twice a day.

Regardless, even if placebo, if it helps... oh well!

The problem becomes people denying legitimate treatments and grasping at placebos.

Quentin5 wrote: ↑ A stopped clock is right twice a day.

The problem becomes people denying legitimate treatments and grasping at placebos.

So sticking a needle in several of the same spots that western, evidence-based practitioners do makes it suddenly a farce? Seems pretty closed-minded to say, given it’s performing the exact same action. A different theory, albeit non-scientific, doesn’t detract from effect.

Same can be said for chiro. A joint “manipulation”, can be explained by more traditional chiropractors as “putting your joints back in place”, whereas current scientific explanation is more to do with neuromodulatory effects. Doesn’t make the effects from the former’s manipulation less real.

Regardless, placebo or not and theory aside, the point is that acupuncture has some scientific data to back its use in specific circumstances.

Let’s not forget that chiropractic care, in general, is an alternative medicine as well.

Phonophoresis wrote: ↑ So sticking a needle in several of the same spots that western, evidence-based practitioners do makes it suddenly a farce? Seems pretty closed-minded to say, given it’s performing the exact same action. A different theory, albeit non-scientific, doesn’t detract from effect.

Same can be said for chiro. A joint “manipulation”, can be explained by more traditional chiropractors as “putting your joints back in place”, whereas current scientific explanation is more to do with neuromodulatory effects. Doesn’t make the effects from the former’s manipulation less real.

Regardless, placebo or not and theory aside, the point is that acupuncture has some scientific data to back its use in specific circumstances.

We could easily be reversing this discussion about the “activator”, or chiropractic care in general, which you seem to be a fan of.

Snake oil and prescription medication can both be taken orally, are they equivalent as well?

Quentin5 wrote: ↑ Snake oil and prescription medication can both be taken orally, are they equivalent as well?

Ah, you’ve resorted to the “appeal to extremes” fallacy instead of addressing anything that was discussed. Always effective.

A shame you’re offering such close-minded and opinionated advice and information to those asking for help.

Phonophoresis wrote: ↑ Ah, you’ve resorted to the “appeal to extremes” fallacy instead of addressing anything that was discussed. Always effective.

A shame you’re offering such close-minded and opinionated advice and information to those asking for help.

If you believe i have acted improperly then feel free to ask a mod if i have broken any forum rules.

Nothing compares to Massage for relaxation but I'd say Chiro has its place. The guy I went to was very knowledgeable and really helped some alignment issues. Never tried Acupuncture and not really interested tbh.

xtremeguy wrote: ↑ I've always been curious about these guys, the ins covers it, should I bother? I absolutely love massages lol, are they relaxing like massages?

I get very deep tissue massages, so they are also on the painful side, but somewhat relaxing.

Chiro and acupuncture is nothing like it. The close part to relaxing, is both of mine heat up my back to loosen up, but then it's not relaxing at all. I used to go to an acupuncturist/chiropractor that immigrated to Canada and redid his certifications here. He was treatment many people on China's Olympic sports team before coming here. He was truly what one would think as a medicine man as he had his training in both China and then Canada. I don't what he did, but during treatment, it would hurt soooo much, I thought I would have to bite down on a towel, I couldn't really understand what he was staying a lot of times, but once I whimpered in pain, and he said 'no pain no gain' (I think) He was the only person I would ever trust to crack my neck, though it resembled a finishing move from Mortal Kombat. Every time was in treatment, I thought I might die, when I left, I always felt better. No relaxing at all, but effective. I was so sad when he retired and moved.

Now, I still go to a chiropractor who is more gentle, does xrays, and doesn't do manual neck adjustments, but other ones.

Quentin5 wrote: ↑Acupuncture is placebo. Which works for those who fall for the placebo effect.

Chiropractic is not, but it has its place and they like to stray way out of their lane.

Their many exaggerated claims are ridiculous.
Realignment does help with certain specific types of pain and can help heal certain physical injuries properly. Though i am more partial to the activator instead of the cracking, less likely to cause other injury and far less hurt after the treatment.

But its not like massage. Apples and Oranges.

I can tell when I don't goto chiro for sure. It is not a placebo, my neck seizes up or my hips do to.

I do IMS which is active release, I find it more effective than acupuncture. I can tell when it's done properly when they are able to force a muscle spasm. It makes a big difference, but again, not all of them are good at it. I say if benefits cover it, then give it a try, if not, then move on. One does need to be very careful with Chiro. The first time I went, the person didn't really listen, and did a weird adjustment that I was in more pain for months.

Macx2mommy wrote: ↑
Now, I still go to a chiropractor who is more gentle, does xrays, and doesn't do manual neck adjustments, but other ones.



I can tell when I don't goto chiro for sure. It is not a placebo, my neck seizes up or my hips do to.

I do IMS which is active release, I find it more effective than acupuncture. I can tell when it's done properly when they are able to force a muscle spasm. It makes a big difference, but again, not all of them are good at it. I say if benefits cover it, then give it a try, if not, then move on. One does need to be very careful with Chiro. The first time I went, the person didn't really listen, and did a weird adjustment that I was in more pain for months.

I also go to a good chiropractor.
What i meant by straying way out of their lane is that they claim to treat everything from seizures to allergies to tumours and more.
Hell some even say chiropractic helps the immune system thus is a treatment for covid.
If they stuck to what they are good for they would gain a lot more legitimacy.

After any physical injury i get my chiro to check me out after acute conventional treatment is taken care of.

Quentin5 wrote: ↑ I also go to a good chiropractor.
What i meant by straying way out of their lane is that they claim to treat everything from seizures to allergies to tumours and more.
Hell some even say chiropractic helps the immune system thus is a treatment for covid.
If they stuck to what they are good for they would gain a lot more legitimacy.

After any physical injury i get my chiro to check me out after acute conventional treatment is taken care of.

Of course, that makes sense. I wouldn't go to a practitioner that makes such a claim. I found mine when I jammed my neck tubing and it hurt for weeks. He immediately recognized what it was and took a very scientific approach which I appreciate. He actually said to me, I won't be able to tell you if you are in pain or not, as it's subjective, but I can tell you how tight you are, what angle of misalignment you are at, etc.

I had a car accident so I needed to have both a chiropractor and acupuncture done on my body,. it was not the same as getting a massage it was not for relaxation, but more for pain relief, I had lots of pain from my car accident and the chiropractor and acupuncture really helped reduce my pain

Macx2mommy wrote: ↑ Of course, that makes sense. I wouldn't go to a practitioner that makes such a claim. I found mine when I jammed my neck tubing and it hurt for weeks. He immediately recognized what it was and took a very scientific approach which I appreciate. He actually said to me, I won't be able to tell you if you are in pain or not, as it's subjective, but I can tell you how tight you are, what angle of misalignment you are at, etc.

In my case an old back injury that was aching, she was able to figure out why and has kept it under control without the need for painkillers or surgery.