Chiropractors, Massage Therapy, Acupuncture, Physiotherapy - What is the best treatment for back pain?!
Question: Should I go see a Doctor first or an Osteopath? Is yoga a good idea? What works best for pain relief? I'd prefer a natural drug free, holistic approach.
Answers: Should I go see a Doctor first or an Osteopath? Is yoga a good idea? What works best for pain relief? I'd prefer a natural drug free, holistic approach.
I saw my family doctor first who got me the referrals I needed. I'm not sure if you have health plan coverage or not.
I was in a car accident 6 years ago that messed up my back. At the time I took Physio and I saw a Chiropractor - however they both didn't want me to see the other at the same time - I saw both anyways and it helped me immensely.
Now 6 years after my accident , I take a Yoga class weekly, which gives me relief - make sure you tell the teacher about your back pain and only do what is comfortable. I can't say the pain doesn't still come and go, but when after it first happened, I could barely move at all, so I'm thankful for the mobility I do have.
I haven't tried acupunture or massage, but I found the relief I needed with Chiro & Physio. Just make sure it feels alright, if it doesn't it might hurt you more than help you in the long run.
Good Luck finding the right treatment for you!
A recent study which received a lot of press coverage found that acupuncture worked best. My own experience of all of the above would agree.
depends on the severity of your pain. Acute deep sever pain go see a doctor. Aces and minor pain any one of the others is good.
Don't you think it would be better to find out what is causing your pain first before you decide what to do about it? Back pain can be caused by anything from a pulled muscle to kidney disease. Get evaluated by a doctor first and then decide on your above choices.
My choice would be Osteopath. They're qualified to diagnose, and prescribe if necessary. An Osteopath may do the bone-crunching stuff, but many don't bother. The Osteopath may send you to a (Licensed) Physical Therapist.
Chiropractors are quacks.
An Osteopath is a medical physician. Many of them are family practice or general practice. This physician may consider approaches that other physicians are not even aware of regarding more natural approaches. The D.O. may even recommend what the best course of action should be, and may include AcP & yoga. He/She may be more open to the natural drug-free approach than other M.D.s
Well for starters, given your situtation, using drugs is a very bad idea, but what most doctors would reccomend.
The optimal person to see depends on what condition you have, and what's wrong with your back. If I had to guess, given what most commonly are the issue, I would say that a chiropractor would be the best place to start, and they could most likely refer you to a more applicable approach if they couldn't fix it (most back pain comes from parts of the spine being out of allingment, precisely what Chiros fix).
The two other best alternatives, as you guessed are to either see and osteopath or an acupuncturist. Essentially the question in these situations always boils down to how complex is your problem. If it's something simple (which the majority are), a random not very skilled practiconer can fix it. If it's something a bit more involved, it's necessary to see someone with a high skill caliber.
So, see a chiro who hopefully has a decent reputation, and try to make sure he gives you an explanation for what he thinks the cause of your back pain was, even if he fixes it for you. I don't know what will happen, so I can't tell you where to go next.
Hope that helps!