Chiropractor as alternative to spine surgery?

What is the diagnosed condition that she is treating?

Compressed lumbar nerves.

I had a need to have ACDF on C5 - C7. I didn't know this at the time but went to PT and eventually a trusted Chiropractor friend. My symptoms - pins and needles on thumb and index finger, same with a patch of skin on my forearm, Dull to bad ache on my upper arm, neck pain radiating down to my shoulder. Chiropractor told me it would be great if I could get an MRI for my cervical, he said "more information is better than Less" so I did. Sever stenosis at several places. Chiropractor was working me over from neck to lumbar, he actually fixed most of the symptoms with my neck but I think hurt my Lumbar, which was pretty sore. I postponed the neck because it appeared much better, but I developed very weak legs, went to Dr Lopez at Midwest Ortho at Rush, a referral from my physical therapist, he reviewed MRI and said I needed ACDF, making it sound like the Cervical was the source of my weak legs. I persisted with having the rest of my spine scanned, and that's when he found a huge hernia at T8 - T9 which was the cause of the weak legs. Long story to say that my Chiropractor DID relieve me of 90% of my cervical symptoms till they started coming back about 2-3 months later, I had stopped with the Chiropractor manipulation after my neck symptoms felt great, but I believed my Lumbar was very sore and that was the reason I stopped the Chiropractic manipulations. Neck lasted 2-3 months before symptoms started returning .

@johntow Thank you for sharing! Hope u r doing well now.

most symptoms have been relieved, most severe was Thoracic related causing legs to be terribly weak. Neck stenosis felt like a toothache 8 - 12 times a day, not debilitating. Got MRI for Cervical, Thoracic, and Lumbar, my surgeon said all 3 needed surgery, Thoracic was URGENT, and yes, microdiscectomy and removing a huge disk hernia saved my legs, but I have lingering issues, most prominent are weak quadriceps in both legs, and glutes are very weak and are most noticeable when I bend at the waist, sit down or stand up from a seated position. I'm very early on with my ACDF physical therapy, so I can't really address Lumber issues yet. Surgeon says I need XLIF with PSIF. Since this procedure starts with me on my side, and once the spinal cage and allograft installed, they re-position you prone, to finish the PSIF, and this can be very hard on a recent ACDF neck, so I have to allow that to heal first.

@johntow Cervical stenosis can cause leg symptoms. It did for me and I didn't have any other sources for this, just a ruptured disc and bone spurs at C5/C6. There can be multiple sources for pain and overlapping symptoms. too.

@johntow Good luck as you proceed!!

@jenniferhunter
which I could figure out how to paste a pic in here, though I am using a Chromebook. ACDF was very successful, my 6 weeks after surgery, when I started PT, I was told "amazing range of motion" more like what they would expect someone AFTER 6-8 weeks of PT. I am pretty sure Cervical is not the source of my lingering issues, but I need to figure out who to see or what to do to isolate if the source is Thoracic T8-T9 microdiscectomy where they removed a rather huge disc herniation which was pressing on the central cord, or if the issues come from Lumbar L4 - L5. Was advised I need a XLIF with PSIF for that

Hi,
I have been very fortunate to have a very good and ethical chiropractor. When I first started going to him, he was very upfront with the fact that I had some pretty severe problems. He said that I would probably never be pain free but he believed that we could reduce the pain and he told me that if and when he thought I needed surgery he would recommend it.
Last month, I had an MRI after a very acute increase in neck pain and he said that he believed I needed to go see a surgeon and he recommended a very good surgeon in my area.
I am glad that I did chiropractory as well as physical therapy over the years because for many years it helped and in that intervening 15 years spinal surgery has had many advances.
I think the important thing about choosing a chiropractor is to find one who is realistic about chiropractic care having a place in patient care when appropriate, rather than telling it as a cure-all to every medical problem that exists. I have a friend who is a chiropractor as well and she often talks about the difference in viewpoints of people in her profession.
The chiropractor I see uses a method called chiropractic biophysics. It is a process that uses a combination of traction, home physical therapy exercises, and gentle adjustments using a tool called an activator. It is much gentler than traditional chiropractic methods.
Whether or not chiropractic techniques and /or surgery is appropriate for you really depends upon your case. If you choose the route of chiropractic care, I would definitely speak to your primary physician and or spine specialist about this choice and ask for the pros and cons that they see in not having surgery. I would also choose a chiropractor who utilizes tools like X-rays and referrals for MRIs when appropriate, so that they can know what's actually going on. I know in my area we have some chiropractors that simply have walk in places where they never do X-rays and they often over promise what their package of adjustments can do.
I wish you the best of luck and I hope that whatever course of treatment you choose can give you relief from pain and allow you to turn return to all the things you enjoy doing.

Good advice. I will definitely consider surgery if I don't get the expected results. Thank you for your response! Best of luck to you.