Had upper back pain for like 3 months a few years ago. Just like a knot of aching. Working out, massage, didn't matter, I couldn't get rid of it. Doctor said it was probably a pinched nerve and game me low grade relaxants. 3 months later, it still hurt just as bad. I broke down and tried a chiropractor, and they said it was a slipped rib, it's a common thing, and popped it "back in place." My back hurt like hell for about 3 hours, and then when it faded, it's gone. No ache or anything. Every single doctor I've told that story to has laughed when I mentioned I had a slipped rib. I Google it, and there is article after article about slipped ribs, but all from chiropractors.

So is a slipped rib a real thing? Or just a con the entire industry is propagating? And if the second, then what the hell made my back pain go away?

The chiro probably adjusted your rib where it attaches to the spine. Ribs don't "slip" without significant trauma or force. If they did then I question the design of the thoracic spine and its ability to protect vital organs.

My favorite ones are the upper cervical chiros who think the body should be balanced by making sure the C0-C1 and C1-C2 are alignment with subtle adjustments that only they can detect.

I could go on for days about how quackery is out there. It isn't just limited to chiropractors. Reiki, energy healers, the claims of acupuncture, craniosacral therapy.

I think it would be fun for others to share their experiences with claims that just scratch your head and don't pass the sniff test.

I'll start. When our wife had our first child she had swelling from all the fluids they pumped in her to induce for delivery. I had her see this lady here in Austin who does lymphatic drainage. I told my wife she is really good at getting the swelling down but she might suggest some things that don't make sense at all.

When she goes to see her she is helpful in reducing the swelling in her body but also suggests that our son's vomer hadn't descended yet. She is claiming that by just holding his head that she can tell the position of the cranial bones and if they are out of place. This makes zero sense at all!!!! Craniosacral therapy is whack.

I know a chiro who claims to have solved a 6 year old's bed wetting

Spinal adjustments for newborns. I need say no more.

So if its a real thing, is there a more qualified medical professional to take care of putting it back in place? Would you go to an osteopath instead?

A chiro can take care of this easily. Most osteopaths don't have the skills these days to this kind of work in my experience. My issues is the explanation of what is going on. The description is just not true.

There are many explanation of things like this that don't really hold up.

aggiederelict said:

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When she goes to see her she is helpful in reducing the swelling in her body but also suggests that our son's vomer hadn't descended yet. She is claiming that by just holding his head that she can tell the position of the cranial bones and if they are out of place. This makes zero sense at all!!!! Craniosacral therapy is whack.

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An undescended vomer?!?! That's rich. I wonder where said vomer was "hanging out" instead of being in its rightful place.
BTW, Vomer is Latin for plowshare, and is also a bit of an obscure slang for a schlong. I'd avoid that woman at all costs.

I would but she is actually very amazing at getting swelling down. I just ignore the parts that make no sense.

There's a lot of really good chiropractors out there who do a great job and there's lots of benefits from seeing one.

There's also a lot of crazy ones who are shady and wack.

I hear this statement a lot for the chiropractor profession. Take the good with the bad. This profession seems to have a greater propensity of quacks than most other healthcare professions. I would say the newer chiros i encounter are not as likely to perform quackery.

I trained years ago with some chiropractors when I was working for a lady who did more woo woo stuff and the stuff they would say thing that made no sense.

Muscle testing to tell you what supplements you needed that they happen to sell in their clinic? That isn't suspicious at all.
Muscle testing to tell you about the childhood trauma you experience at a specific age? Yeah, that makes sense.
They somehow never prescribed exercised patients to, i don't know, actually create independence from getting chiropractic care once a week for they rest of their lives.

My wife and her friends are all into the chiropractor stuff almost religiously.

I've gone to a sports medicine specialist that can actually describe what ligaments and muscles were injured and give me some exercises and stretches to do, etc, but this "adjustment" crap I hear about seems pretty sketchy to me. My spine isn't a front end of a truck.

I like it when they say don't adjust yourself because you will adjust the wrong spinal segment and when they adjust you like 5 things all pop at once.

Real specific with that technique aren't we?