I have moderate degenerative disc disease in my neck--at C5/C6 and C6/C7.
I was diagnosed by MRI through a neurologist and was sent to physical therapy.
I went for a month to PT, and was discharged to do my exercises on my own.
My problem is that I still have numbness and weakness in my left hand/fingers.
So, I'm wondering if a chiropractor might be able to help me? Anyone have any experience with this?
I've heard good and bad and am not sure what to do.
I know I don't want to go through the rest of my life with a numb left hand (I'm 46).

Thanks

I'd say go to the chiropractor if you can afford it or better yet try acupunture. I had a friend who had a similiar problem and they say acupunture seriously helped.

I'd go accupuncture instead of chiropractor! Good luck with getting it figured out/healed!

Chiro if it is a good one. Mine totally fix me. No surgery!

I had no luck with either chiro or acupuncture for my c5/c6 injury. Nothing changed except my bank account :-)

I'm wary of chiropractors; there doesn't seem to be a solid foundation of science to what they do, and while I'm all for the "can't hurt, might help" philosophy in general, in this particular case it can hurt and evidence of helping is largely anecdotal. I wouldn't say that no chiropractor has ever helped anyone, but the risks outweigh the potential benefits--and for those who found help from a chiropractor, congratulations on winning the non-science-based medical-practice lottery.

Acupuncture is in a similar gray area, but at least acupuncture is unlikely to worsen damage; the worst it's likely to do is simply not work.

Very true and well stated. Both are considered pseudosciences.... Some people swear both methods are effective for various ailments, but at the end of the day I think a lot of it is psychosomatic. =\

ddc - that sounds so familiar. Oh yeah! Me - ten years ago when I was 44.

If you smoke, stop. They have found a link between smoking and disc disease.

Skip the chiro, try to avoid any arms-over-head movements, be gentle with your left arm and any exertion, avoid wearing your purse on that side, take your calcium and fish oil (and maybe chondroitin/glucosamine), and try to wait it out. It might calm down. My C5-6 disc eventually ruptured (I think the chiro adjustment did it) and I opted for surgery and glad I did. My neuro surgeon said that the disc could eventually calcify but I didn't have a year or two to put my life on hold and I did not want to be on muscle relaxers forever.

My insurance covered both chiro and acupuncture. At the time I had secondary with spouse so I paid $0.

I did go to an acupuncturist searching for any kind of relief before the surgery (I had some relief - electro stimulation - and took an herbal supplement that stretched the pain pill's affect) and then three days after surgery I went back to help with the healing. I was off all pain meds two days later.

Good Luck with whatever you decide. Try to get friends' referrals to acupuncturist and of course if it is not a good fit, try somewhere else. Make sure you get second opinions if surgery is recommended.

ETA: I was not convinced the adjustments were helping but my insurance covered the massages and EST treatments which did help. I decided I wouldn't go back to chiro since I believe she ruptured the disc; she started doing some hocus pocus stuff with holding crystals and vials of chemicals to 'detect' ailments to which she would prescribe and sell her supplements!

I go to a wonderful chiropractor...he's definitely not in it for the money he charges $25 a session...my co pay is $5...he's very informative..he and the massage therapist both told me the problems I have in my wrist hand and fingers are a direct result of the neck pain...sometimes the massage therapist can get my muscles relaxed enough to get my neck back in place, other times she tells me to go to the chiro...(I'm 46) Once I am in place I dont have to go for a long while...

I have heard horror stories about chiros so to tell you the truth I was afraid to go, but this one was reccomended by several people.

When I am bad you can actually see and feel my neck is very out of place...chiro gets it back aligned...I cant make my neck back go in place just because I want it to...

I think psychosomatic is when a physical disorder is caused or exacerbated by a mental or emotional condition.

You may be thinking of the power of the mind by suggestion or the placebo affect.

I've always heard the word used interchangeably. I could be wrong though, if I am, my bad.

And I wasn't attacking anyone. I was just giving my opinion based on things I've read about the matter and personal experience from people I know. If it works for you, that's great.

There is a growing body of research supporting the idea that acupuncture may have significant benefits for pain management compared to placebo. Many of these studies are pretty solid and from well known clinical journals, but the jury is still out and more research needs to be done. Just because something is not yet well understood doesn't necessarily mean that it should be dismissed. The same could be said for spinal manipulation, but there's a lot less evidence to back that up - and as someone said, there are more risks involved.

I would say that if you think you might benefit, try it out especially if your other options are things like chronic pain, sensory loss, and surgical or pharmacological intervention that could also cause more harm than good.

One more thing, if you decide to drop the money on a chiropractor, do some research and make sure they at least have a good reputation...i.e. no crystals

acupuncture has been around since the 2nd century BC. if it didn't work i'm pretty sure people would have stopped using it by now and insurance wouldn't cover it. XD

I'm not going to argue with results; if someone has a chiro who gives them relief from pain, more power to them. Pain-free is awesome.

However, I personally wouldn't recommend that anyone seek a chiropractor because the profession is poorly regulated and the explanation behind the procedures that chiropractors use is not rooted in experimental evidence, but in anecdotal evidence. If you're one of the people who has anecdotal evidence of being pain-free, that's awesome--but it doesn't mean chiropractors everywhere are awesome or that the theory behind chiropractic treatment is sound.

Unlike many other alternative-medicine treatments, though, chiropractic therapy can actually exacerbate nerve and bone problems. One of the contraindications for any kind of chiropractic manipulation is any kind of arthritis or degenerative bone/cartilage disorders. It's absolutely not something I would recommend to others, not given what I know from just casual reading about the risks versus the potential rewards.

For anyone who's found a chiro she loves and who helps her, that's great news--but unfortunately, your anecdotal good news cannot be extrapolated to the profession as a whole which has some real kooks in it.