Chiropractor?

Good evening guys & girls,

Just after people’s throughts on seing a chiropractor if it’s worth it or not

Been diagnosed with Mav nearly 2 years ago by the Dr S my progress has had many ups and down, must say my situation has improved.

Anyway I am 34 years young now and my body feels slow and tired and akey.
The hips are regularly sore which I put down to my adnormal gait whilst walking.

I just thinking if seeing a chiropractor would make a difference??

Feel free to comment away as any info or ideas would be much appreciated

Enjoy your weekend

I would go conservative first, as ever.

Have you tried light exercise … some long walks, hiking, that might help?

I’m weary of the chiropractics, but it probably wouldn’t hurt. I’m a bigger fan of physical therapy, exercise and self massage. My hips are also sore, but they are getting better with physical therapy and exercise over time. Some simple yoga poses like triangle pose can help with the hips as well.

i would recommend a physiotherapist that helps you work with your posture. I went with one for a few weeks and due to pregnancy and mav, i had totally disengaged core. The therapist gave me several low intensity but very effectve exercises to strength the core and correct posture and many body aches have gone away.

Yep, core exercises are good. Like MAV, it can take some time to get progress.

Hi

I’ll chip in here cos I have very definite opinions about chiropractors generally and specifically with MAV, I’d say ‘Stay away from them entirely’. I think you’d be pretty safe maybe, two streets away. With regards to balance and MAV, much the same applies, in UK at least, of so called ‘balance’ physios. Although, with a gun to my head, I’d ‘choose’ physio in preference to chiropractor.

Dr S I’ve read regularly refers to MAV as a ‘migraine variant balance disorder. It certainly can mess up one’s balance and as you say, affects our gait etc. Indeed puts our entire body out of alignment, the result of which can easily be pain. This alignment is surely a result of the brain’s reaction to confusing messages it’s receiving from our eyes, ears, etc. Ultimately, The brain controls our balance so I don’t see how manual manipulation pushing parts back temporarily into alignment is really going to help. You need to sort the root cause. Action depends on how bad your problem seems, Perhaps go back to Dr S maybe. As @turnitaround you could try walking. You could try Tai Chi a while, swimming or whatever.

I’ve had MAV for fifteen years and did try various alternative therapies. For a while I tried Alexander Technique which was interesting, fascinating in fact but same applied. It aimed to sort the symptoms of how we walk just to keep functioning when compensating for our lack of true dynamic balance without addressing the root cause. An expensive waste of money. For a MAVer. Personally I’ve found meds the only way forward but we are all different. Helen

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Agree. My Neuro told me ‘not to let anyone near my neck’. For such a clear direction no explanation was offered though. My hunch is she is right, though.

It’s surprising just how helpful light exercise can be.

Tai Chi is a great suggestion, it helped me a lot. I highly recommend this video (other suggestions below including streaming options):

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(be careful of region)

Tai Chi Streaming videos US accounts UK accounts
Lots of videos Several videos

Other DVDs (be careful of region)

Hi Guys,

Thank you for your responses, it’s nice to hear people’s views and different methods. I have another appointment coming up with Dr S within a month so may get his opinion on the subject as well.

What ever route I decide to go down I will keep you update

Cheers

Just a couple of points to add:

Years ago (long before MAV) when I had a very good chiropractor he said to me this:

“Look you can keep having sessions and I will help you, but you really need to resolve the thing that is causing your problem in the first place and change your lifestyle”.

In my case that was too much time in front of the computer, over-work and too little exercise.

I resolved it with going swimming, street dance (those were the days!) classes, and having more beers with friends :slight_smile: (just standing around relaxing was a big help).

Another thing to consider is your stiffness may be related to a deficit in your vestibular system: your brain stiffens up your neck and body to try and keep your head still in response. I personally found Amitriptyline helpful in this regard and seemed to counteract this tendency.

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