Parents Chiropractic care more common among gymnastics families?

[reluctant]

I see A LOT of mention of chiropractic care on this site and Facebook groups and I wonder if it is more common for gymnasts to seek chiropractic care than other children involved in sports. Our family does not see a chiropractor so as an outsider it seems almost cultish. I don't hear non-gymnastics people talking about chiropractors with the frequency that gymnastics people do. So I know people feel VERY STRONGLY one way or the other about chiropractors, I just wonder about gymnastics family being so into when say dancers and football players are not.

 

[amiandjim]

I think a lot of athletes see chiropractors. As a runner, I know most of my running friends see one. A lot of CrossFit athletes and obstacle racers do as well. So, I don’t think it’s just gymnasts, just certain groups of athletes.

 

[bogwoppit]

I have no friends who use them, most see sports therapists or osteopaths.

Not a big fan of spinal adjustment.

 

[ladybird]

There are several families in our gym who use a chiropractor as their “go to” provider. We do not. I’m not judging but I just don’t understand it.

 

[Deleted member 18037]

I think there are folks who are lean to chiropractic care and folks who don’t. No matter the sport or no sports at all.

 

[bookworm]

My girls used a chiropractor pretty regularly in the upper level JO years...it could have been that the chiropractor was one of the dads at the gym and I knew his background and was very comfortable with him as a provider of that particular type of care. He never made claims to be the great healer or anything but I can tell you that maybe it was like a souped up massage but my girls really did benefit from his care. We only went about once a month or two and the girls would ask for the appointment so they sensed when they needed it.

I'm a health care professional by day so I wouldn't have seen us doing it but it did help.....and not to say that we didn't see orthopedic doctors as well because we did for their acute injuries...like ACL, OCD ,Achilles, Pars fracture. I saw the chiropractor as more of a maintenance therapy to tune them up when they needed it.

 

[raenndrops]

I see A LOT of mention of chiropractic care on this site and Facebook groups and I wonder if it is more common for gymnasts to seek chiropractic care than other children involved in sports. Our family does not see a chiropractor so as an outsider it seems almost cultish. I don't hear non-gymnastics people talking about chiropractors with the frequency that gymnastics people do. So I know people feel VERY STRONGLY one way or the other about chiropractors, I just wonder about gymnastics family being so into when say dancers and football players are not.

Lol, I found out last week that my beautician's primary care physician is her chiropractor... and the same with her daughter and grandbaby. She said that the baby was all stuffed up and the chiro did an adjustment and the nose started flowing and cleared... without meds. She swears by chiro.
I have never been to a chiropractor, but my sister has, I want both YG and OG to see one, but they never have either.

 

[Mom2Chickadee]

My DD, DH and DS all go to the chiropractor for maintenance. DH is a hockey player (recreational) that has had back issues since he was a teenager, so he's been with the same chiro for decades now. DD started going when she complained of back pain (she also sees a sports physiotherapist too), and DS is a hockey and baseball (pitcher) player so he started going last year for maintenance purposes. It's definitely not just gymnasts who see a chiropractor in our area, it's basically all sports. Our chiropractor says his biggest clients are from the local cheerleading club ;-).

 

[Seeker]

We all go and always have - predates her entry into gymnastics. Consider yuorself lucky if you don’t need one. I’m quite sure I’d probably not be able to walk at this point if I didn’t have a chiropractor.

 

[profmom]

I think it's important to be careful. Large-scale double-blind studies have not shown a consistent benefit to chiropractic care. I think this is in part because the profession is not overall as regulated either in terms of entry or in terms of standards of care as conventional medical practice. A large-scale study looking into the benefits of chiropractic care will probably tend to include all kinds of chiro, from practitioners who have gone through a rigorous formal training program and the equivalent of a medical residency to those who picked it up here and there and hung out a shingle.

If you are contemplating chiro, I suggest getting a recommendation from a qualified and trusted medical professional, ideally a sports orthopedist (not Aunt Sue, whose back problems have really improved since she started getting weekly adjustments four years ago and buying hundreds of dollars of supplements). My daughter has been seeing her guy for almost three years now. The go-to sports orthopedist for our team recommended him after we finally took her to see the sports orthopedist following months of frustration from a misdiagnosed back injury. Some of the hallmarks that tell me he's the right guy are the following:

-- He has a real, rigorous degree
-- He does adjust her, but he also assigns PT exercises and spends a lot of time showing her how to do them
-- He explains the biomechanics of the adjustments he does, and the basis on which he is assigning exercises
-- He started seeing her once a week, but rapidly cut her back to every other week, and then released her to come back on an as-needed basis
-- She saw immediate improvement, and has been maintaining through the occasional adjustments
-- When he thinks she needs to see an orthopedist for imaging, he sends her rather than continuing to treat her himself

Because we've appreciated his approach, he has also picked up my hubby and my FIL as patients. Hubby is now on a see-as-needed basis, but for my FIL, he says he's done all he can at this point for those 88-year-old hips and just encourages him to keep up with the PT exercises at home. My FIL is still struggling, but definitely has more mobility than he did.

 

[tpMom]

I've worked for a chiropractic office for more than 7 years and, in my experience, there are a few different types of people who see chiropractors.

#1: The Convert - This person does not have a traditional PCP, he sees a chiropractor for everything from a sore neck to an ear infection. He doesn't believe in Western Medicine and spends thousands of dollars a year on holistic/alternative medicine.

#2: The Regular - This person looks at chiropractic treatment like she does an oil change for her car. She sees the chiropractor every month for "maintenance". She might also have a PCP but she feels healthier and better able to avoid Western medicine by making regular trips to the chiropractor.

#3: The Injured - This person was probably referred to a chiropractor once after an acute injury, like a car accident or a fall, now he makes an appointment whenever he wakes up with a crick in his neck or throws out his back at work. He schedules an appointment every 3 months or less, sees a PCP for most issues, but trusts that the chiropractor is best for muscular pain.

In our office, most athletes fall into the third category - we see them when they're injured, but they also have pediatricians, physical therapists, and other practitioners that they see as well. I haven't noticed that gymnasts are any more likely to fall in one of the other 2 categories than those who play soccer or basketball. I am personally someone who sees a chiropractor for maintenance, and I've taken my children to my office but only when they've been injured. I think a chiropractor can be a good part of an athlete's health care team, but you have to know and trust the doctor, and follow through with other parts of that team, like the physical therapist and pediatrician.

 

[gymmomx2]

We see our chiropractor for "maintenance" monthly and also when injured (whole family, including gymnasts). Here chiropractic is an advanced degree (end to end 7 years of post-secondary study) and is only offered at two colleges in the country. Chiropractic is fully regulated so we don't tend to find chiropractors who claim to fix everything under the sun. I'm sure some must exist but I haven't met any

Basically for aches and pains we go to the chiropractor and physiotherapist, for anything else we go to the doctor's office. I also don't know anyone who goes to the chiropractor instead of their regular doctor.

 

[reluctant]

A lot of people do that here. I think it is misguided.

 

[gymmomx2]

@reluctant Do you mean people go to the chiropractor if they have a fever and such? How strange. I wonder if it's because of insurance issues?

 

[reluctant]

@reluctant Do you mean people go to the chiropractor if they have a fever and such? How strange. I wonder if it's because of insurance issues?

I think they just have a trusting relationship with their chiropractor and use them as a primary care provider. My husband's parents are like this. They do go to specialists, but always start at the chiropractor. It doesn't seem wise to me. I can understand going that route if they have back or hip pain. I don't think my husband saw an MD until he went to college! We do not ever go to the chiropractor.

 

[thefellowsmom]

My dd sees her chiro monthly for maintenance and we found him due to her back injury when other practitioners didn’t know how to help her and her ortho completely failed her. I Understand there may be lots of quack chiros out there but they are not all like that and ours is more knowledge, eager to learn and more invested in my Childs overall health than any doctor I have ever seen. He literally flew to texas to consult with a colleague to come up with a treatment plan for her. Not because he didn’t know what he was doing but because he knew her case was tricky and wanted to make absolutely sure he gave her the best shot at reaching for her dreams. And I am sure she she wouldn’t still be doing gymnastics, certainly not pain free at the highest level, if we hadn’t found him.

I totally agree with profmom that it is very important to find the right person. He does adjust her but also addresses and spends more time even working on her aches and pains, assigning PT, doing manual therapy and massage and teaching her and I how to work on her issues at home so that her aches and pains don’t turn into injuries. Our guy meets all those hallmarks profmom laid out and more. In fact for a long time he was trying to stretch her out further and further and “get us outa here” as he put it. He was very clear that he as not into or supposed to keep us indefinitely. I finally had to get firm with him and tell him we weren’t going anywhere and as far as I was concerned we would be here for our monthly appointment until she was done or went to college. We consider him a critical member of her gymnastics team and there have been several times where he was the one who was able to say the right thing and get her out of a funk or motivate her to keep going, elevated er game or try something new. He was an elite level athlete and gives her perspective and understanding that sometimes I can’t.

Several of the girls on her team see him now as well and even one of her coaches is seeing him as well.

And he has never tried to sell me any supplements. Although, he was the one that finally figured out what was causing her blood pressure to tank in the middle of practice and have muscle spasms. Her doctor had no clue and did nothing to help her. He recommended a set of vitamins, which he never tried to sell me and I bought on amazon. She has been fine ever since.

Don’t get me wrong, there is a definite time and place for the ortho and we have an amazing PT and of course she sees her pediatrician for our annual shaming survey, but our chiro is our first line of defense and I couldn’t be more grateful to have him.

Oh and he was born and raised and educated in Canada at one of those two schools gymmomx2 mentioned.

But, having said all of that. Please be very careful. There are lots of not good ones out there as well. Please do you research and due diligence and if you are looking for a chiro, make sure you get a good one. I wouldn’t be taking my kid to anyone I didn’t fully trust and know was looking out for her best interest and operating at the highest level.

 

[Faith]

I see A LOT of mention of chiropractic care on this site and Facebook groups and I wonder if it is more common for gymnasts to seek chiropractic care.

I think it’s partly demographic. The type of parent that will be on here and in facebook groups are going to be a “type” that looks into stuff, and is more likely to seek alternative therapies if conventional isn’t an immediate fix. They google and read the “science” and buy into it.

 

[2G1B]

My kids have never been to a chiropractor and probably won't until they are old enough to choose (or not) to see one themselves. I personally have used chiropractors some. I had a bad experience with one years ago that really soured my view on them. That one did try to sell me supplements and explained that I needed to pre-pay for my first appointment until they got insurance worked out, that appointment had Xrays, so it was over $300. Turns out my insurance covered chiropractic and I only had like a $15 copay per visit, including the xrays. Rather than refunding my money they then just took the copay off of the balance I had with them each time (I was only early 20s and dumb, I should have told them, "no!" on this). In the end I quit seeing them when my back actually went out a few hours after an adjustment, I never got the rest of my money back from them. However, about 8 years ago I was having back pain and I saw a different chiropractor and he did really help me with that, so I'm not against them; but if they try to sell me extras or suggest that I pre-pay then I'm out.

My kids do have friends whose parents seem to do chiropractic more than orthpedic for sports stuff and some of them I really side eye. I have had friends take their kids to the chiropractor for suspected broken bones and that blows my mind (especially when the parents are told that the chiro can rule out a break with his special tool, no xrays needed. I get that a doctor can be pretty sure something isn't broken and can say as much; but to say that you have a special tool that diagnoses a break with no xrays is a stretch. I suspect it was a tuning fork and I understand the concept and theory; but it isn't 100% accurate). I also have had people tell me that they see their chiro for everything - a cold, flu, etc. One time a chiropractic student told me that I should get an adjustment when I had the flu, that it would completely heel me. (this was confirmed FLU, not a stomach bug or cold.)

My kids do see a physical therapist a lot. And their PTs do some manipulation; but at the same time they are working on exercises to strengthen any weaknesses.

 

[SurpriseGymMom]

Both my girls and I see our chiropractor regularly. More frequently when injured, once/mo or less for maintenance. One girl is a dancer, other a gymnast, I am neither, lol! I have been a fan of GOOD chiropractic care since I was in a car accident many years ago. I also get massages every 3-4wks (physically demanding job and RA). We also own several rollers and other self help aids as well as a jacuzzi. All part of physical well being.
We see our chiropractor (also a trained PT) first for anything muscular/ body pain stuff but we have a great family doctor we see for other stuff. We are fairly healthy but there are aches and pains that come along with being an upper level gymnast, an upper level dancer and a middle aged gymnastics coach..! Our family doc isn’t going to do much for those except suggest rest, ibuprofen and ice.... If there is anything potentially more serious, of course we see our doctor and then whatever specialist she refers us to.