stress fracture by chiropractor?

June 1, 2006 12:58 PM

Could my chiropractor have caused a stress fracture?

I've been running regularly for a few months, and recently went to a chiropractor for an upper back issue. They fixed that wonderfully, but while I was there they cracked my hips. When they did, it hurt really bad and hurt badly after as well. I went back four more times, and they "re-adjusted" it, but it kept hurting. So, I stayed off of it. Running and any impact killed and so I made an appt. with a sports physician. After an MRI, and I don't even know how much this is all going to cost, it was determined that I have a stress fracture in my hip/pelvic joint. I have to stay off it for a month and can only swim, so I have to ditch my races and stop training. I'm a little pissed actually. Anyways, it seems strange that the chiro and my pain coincided. Does anyone (chiropractor answers especially appreciated here) know if it was possible that they caused it? I'm not looking to sue, as I'm pretty sure I signed my life away liability wise when I was in the office, but am interested to know if it was something I did or that was done TO me, so I can avoid the injury in the future. My doc really didn't want to be the one to answer this question, so here I am.

posted by abee to health & fitness (19 comments total)

Wow - you've apparently been effectively maimed by an incompetent working in a quack field of pseudo-medecine, and you're only a LITTLE pissed?

From your account it seems crystal-clear that the fraudster caused the injury. This is what tort law is for - sue the S.O.B. Or at least report him to your state's regulatory agency and/or the AG's office.
posted by BigLankyBastard at 1:15 PM on June 1, 2006

Of course.
posted by Jairus at 1:39 PM on June 1, 2006

Did they take x-rays before they "adjusted"?

There's really no question of whether the chiro could have caused a stress fracture - of course s/he could have. The only real question is whether or not you'd be able to confirm or prove it.
posted by dilettante at 1:52 PM on June 1, 2006

Ah, here comes the chiropractor-bashing.

If your own doctor won't answer this question, given access to all your medical images and actual training in the field of medicine, why do you think AskMe will give you an acceptable answer? I'm honestly curious why he won't answer this for you.

And though I personally doubt that your chiropractor fractured your bone with his (or her) bare hands, sure it's possible. Even regular doctors mess up sometimes.
posted by GuyZero at 2:04 PM on June 1, 2006

Adjustments shouldn't hurt. Period.

I love my chiropractor and she's made an enormous difference in my quality of life, but there are a lot of quacks and lousy chiropractors out there. I can't believe you went back to the same office four times after they caused you this pain!
posted by desuetude at 2:05 PM on June 1, 2006

Yes, it's possible -- my sister's shoulder was dislocated by a bad chiropractor -- but I agree that this is ultimately a question your own doctor needs to answer. (And I agree with desuetude: there are good chiropractors and bad ones. I've had both. Once someone causes this amount of pain, you can pretty much chalk them up in the "bad" column.)
posted by scody at 2:58 PM on June 1, 2006

Ah, here comes the chiropractor-bashing.

Given that he pointlessly caused a fracture because his field is based on flawed or non-existent data, yeah, there might be some bashing.

If your own doctor won't answer this question, given access to all your medical images and actual training in the field of medicine, why do you think AskMe will give you an acceptable answer? I'm honestly curious why he won't answer this for you.
posted by GuyZero at 2:04 PM PST on June 1

I have clients who ask me questions I won't answer. Sometimes it's better to keep your mouth shut than to wade hip-deep into a river of shit.

From the original question: I'm not looking to sue, as I'm pretty sure I signed my life away liability wise when I was in the office

If your chiropractor was negligent, there's nothing you could have signed that protects him from all responsibility, ethically or financially. Otherwise real doctors wouldn't need malpractice insurance, just blocks of waivers. Get a lawyer, and stop seeing chiropractors. He could have killed you.
posted by Optimus Chyme at 3:41 PM on June 1, 2006

Your question seems to be "...if it was possible that they caused it?" Yes. *How* possible, I have no idea, and probably most of the people here will say the same.

Other, related questions you may have also asked include "in the absence of recommendations, how do I find a good chiropractor?", and "If chiropractors are Considered Harmful, what kind of an MD should I consult?"
At least, that's what I might have asked, and it may be helpful to the OP.
posted by RikiTikiTavi at 4:02 PM on June 1, 2006

A chiropractor hurt someone in the course of their "treatment manipulations?" Unheard of - except for the 40 or 50 cases I have personal experience with and the thousands of others that are reported every year.

You can be certain your chiro has malpractice insurance; that in itself should make you aware that they're not immune from liability for their actions. Whether you want to sue is a different question; you should be aware that even a successful lawsuit won't make you well again.
posted by ikkyu2 at 4:03 PM on June 1, 2006

I did go to a supposedly reputable clinic, and requested a different chiropractor after the first one left me feeling sore. I had been told that it is normal to feel pain after the first few sessions due to inflamation, and that I should ice after every visit. I only became suspicious of an injury after I stopped going and was still in a lot of pain.
It is a very difficult case to prove and one that I don't think any lawyer I could afford would be able to win. After all, I am a runner and runners are prone to stress fractures. And I didn't document my hip pain after the first visit, other than telling the chiropractors about it and I highly doubt they would be willing to "recall" that information.
posted by abee at 4:09 PM on June 1, 2006

It is inexcusable that after you reported severe pain, they "re-adjusted" it four times. Even the world's worst quack should have referred you to an M.D. Don't sue because it makes you feel better - it won't - sue so that "Dr." Mark of Golden Gate Chinese Food Plaza Chiropractic Clinic & Homeotastic Ear Candlers thinks twice before fucking around with his other patients' lives.
posted by Optimus Chyme at 5:04 PM on June 1, 2006 [1 favorite]

I had been told that it is normal to feel pain after the first few sessions due to inflamation, and that I should ice after every visit.

Well, you've been told wrong. From the American Chiropractic Association:
Chiropractic adjustment rarely causes discomfort. However, patients may sometimes experience mild soreness or aching following treatment (as with some forms of exercise) that usually resolves within 12 to 48 hours.


It's also bizarre that they made an adjustment not related to your complaint. This is not standard.

I don't know who considers this clinic reputable, but whoever they are they didn't do their homework on chiropractic clinical care standards.
posted by desuetude at 5:18 PM on June 1, 2006

I'm not looking to sue, as I'm pretty sure I signed my life away liability wise when I was in the office, but am interested to know if it was something I did or that was done TO me, so I can avoid the injury in the future. My doc really didn't want to be the one to answer this question, so here I am.

That dosn't make any legal sense at all. You can sign away medical liability, otherwise every hospital and doctor would make you do it. You probably signed a HIPAA information release, which everyone has to sign before they get medical care.

You should really read things you sign.

Senator Santorum's wife sued her chiropractor for twice as much money ($500k) as her husband was trying to limit everyone else to by law. So certainly is possible.

My guess is that if you had a good lawyer you would have a good chance of getting at least a settlement, whether or not the chiro actually broke your bones.

Chiropractors make mistakes just like Doctors do, that’s why malpractice insurance is such a big industry. That said, there is a huge contingent of mefites who are absolutely convinced that chiropractors are on par with witch doctors and faith healers. It's a very strange phobia based on nothing other then their own self-righteousness, as far as I can tell.
posted by delmoi at 7:15 PM on June 1, 2006

Delmoi, it's based on the fact that chiropractic care is ineffective for all but the most trivial of back problems, and that it's advertised as a panacea for all musculosketal problems as well as - when you get to the really great D.C.s - cancer, lupus, and AIDS. Any M.D. who claimed to cure major diseases through spinal manipulation would lose his license, whereas the chiropractic industry and its regulatory bodies look the other way.
posted by Optimus Chyme at 11:09 PM on June 1, 2006

chiropractic care is ineffective for all but the most trivial of back problems posted by Optimus Chyme at 11:09 PM PST on June 1

Precisely. I went in for a trivial back problem, specifying that was my only problem. If they hadn't gotten so crack happy and I hadn't trusted that what they were doing was "normal" procedure, I wouldn't be in pain.
posted by abee at 6:44 AM on June 2, 2006

That said, there is a huge contingent of mefites who are absolutely convinced that chiropractors are on par with witch doctors and faith healers.

Stop maligning witch doctors and faith healers.

Look, if you want to pay money for chiro, visit a physical therapist instead. You'll actually walk away with some useful knowledge on improving behavior and body mechanics. It's a classic "give a man a fish/teach him to fish" scenario. Conventional medical treatment of mechanical low back pain is just as limited/useless as chiro, but at least most of us are willing to admit it to patients.
posted by docpops at 9:06 AM on June 2, 2006

Personal experience FWIW. I went to a chiropracter for lower back pain.

I'm certain that in one of the treatments, the chiro cracked one of my ribs. Probably just a stress fracture. I was sore for a couple of weeks. I had pain taking deep breaths and coughing and laughing. Never had it checked out. And yes, I did complain to the chiro who insisted that it couldn't have happened, and that I needed to continue treatments to heal the back pain.

My back was in such bad shape at the time, that I did continue treatment in the hope that my back would get better. It never did. At least not until years after I gave up on chiro.
posted by marsha56 at 11:05 AM on June 2, 2006

docpops, it's important to realize that physiotherapists can cause damage too. some of them use the same manipulation methods as chiropractors (been there :().
posted by mirileh at 12:29 PM on June 2, 2006

Even if they were quacking like a duck, chanting nam myoho renge ko or drinking Pat Robertson's protein shake I don't see how they broke a healthy hip. This seems far-fetched. You say this is not an uncommon injury for runners. Hip/pelvic joint already weak plus extra attention→ ooowww!

I have always wanted to stay away from x-rays in the chiros office but this seems a good argument in favor of them. Remember that hairline fractures are not always visible on an x-ray. So maybe an x-ray would have shown a hairline break and they would have known not to move your hip. In this scenario your hip is already damaged you just didn't know it yet.

My mother was diagnosed with a broken hip, they couldn't see a break in the x-ray but they felt it must be there. They had her strapped to the gurney to wheel her in to hip replacement surgery when someone asked again, "So you can't put any weight on it, right?" "I always said I could stand on it." "Oh, then your hip is not broken." Lack of effective treatment lead to such a loss of muscle that she is now confined to a wheelchair all the time.

Adjusting your hip for a mid back problem is not so outrageous as you seen to think. Next time you are in the Md’s office twist the hips of that skeleton around and watch the effect on the spine- the hips are the foundation of the spine. A catch in the hip can easily lead to the upper back stuff. Though in your case I think the hip was already fractured and that’s why it was tight.

Blame whom you want, your lifestyle or the chiro, it seems probable both led to your pain. Looking to the future, I am sure you can find appropriate ways to speed the healing of your bones and protect them.

Oh yeah, IANAC
posted by pointilist at 2:37 PM on June 2, 2006