RE: Re: RE: Chiropractors

["Kathy Mayeda" <kathy_mayeda@atce.com>]

Well, my chiropractor can tell where I'm out of alignment as I walk
into the door, just by the way I'm holding myself.  I rarely have
to tell her "where it hurts", she knows exactly where the problem is,
in fact it's usually not where *I* think it is.

When my horse is out of alignment, it is obvious to a layperson's eye.
He doesn't need to talk.  If I take him out of work as I did last
winter it gets worse, not better, just like if I don't do my excercises
my back goes "out".  Especially when I am dealing with a upward fixation
of the patella, I need to keep him in work, otherwise his whole body
goes crooked.  I can feel it as he moves under saddle and I can see
a marked assymettry from the ground.  I am not "reading his mind."

I do not know how your physiotherapist differs in training from
our physical therapists, but I can tell you the physical therapists
I have worked with at the Stanford Sports Therapy Center had NO
MERCY for my personal pain threshold.  The physical therapy
was more painfull than the ACL injury itself!

I also had my horse treated by a lay chiropractor/farrier.  I was
quite concerned because his body was in quite a spasm afterwards,
but it was a MAJOR adjustment.  I have to admit, though, it made
a world of difference, he was able to take up the other lead which
he never was able to before once the spasm subsided.

I think there are same differences in health care providers between
South Africa and California for both humans and equines!

K.




-----Original Message-----
From: Tracey [mailto:tracey@tbt.co.za]
Sent: Tuesday, September 12, 2000 12:52 AM
To: Kathy Mayeda; Tivers@aol.com; ridecamp@endurance.net
Subject: RC: Re: RE: Chiropractors


Hi, all.


I don't intend to belittle anyone's POV, or to state that chiropracty
does /
doesn't work, but simply to add some possible "food for thought" to this
discussion.


I have some major bumps and lumps from a motor vehicle accident.  My
back is
a bit of a mess, and my left leg is, as a result, significantly shorter
than
my right.  Will I go to an orthopaedic surgeon?  No - if it's back, I
see a
neurologist.


I have been to a physiotherapist, who has helped me to stay comfortable.
However, if I think about the way she operates, it is largely dependant
upon
communication between the two of us "Is this sore", "How far can you
flex to
the left / right" , "Are you feeling stiffness or pain", "Do you suffer
from
headaches" etc, etc.


No physio / chiropracter in the world can do this with my horse.  They
are
dependent on me giving them information which may be a result of my
completely inaccurate interpretation of my horse's way of going.


For this reason, I am dubious about engaging the services of a chiro /
physio to assist my horses.  If I think that they are sore / stiff / not
quite right, and my vet can't help, I rest them for a time.  In all such
cases, the rest has done the trick.


One time I did use a physio (early on in my riding "career", before I
became
obnoxiously self-opinionated), she made such a mess of things that Toc
felt
worse afterwards than he did before.




Tracey



=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=
Ridecamp is a service of Endurance Net, http://www.endurance.net.    
Information, Policy, Disclaimer: http://www.endurance.net/RideCamp   
=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=