Should a Chiari patient have neck manipulations done by a Chiropractor?
Is it dangerous? Despite the fact that some Chiari patients benefited from a trip to the Chiropractor, and many were not helped, a large number of patients were hurt by neck manipulations. When I say “large”, I mean this: during the year 2002, we saw more than 700 Chiari patients in the office, and bad stories concerning Chiropractors were only second to bad stories after car accidents. In our experience, Chiropractors have been responsible (in many instances) for: causing the onset of symptoms in formerly asymptomatic Chiari subjects; worsening the pre-existent symptoms; causing postoperative complications. Gentle manipulations of the neck can be performed by Physical Therapists, or by your partner (or by the milkman, if the partner is at work). The training of Chiropractors seems to lead them to perform manipulations which are too harsh and dangerous for Chiari patients, the cranio-cervical junction of whom is as fragile as Michael Jackson’s nose. Be nice to your Turkeys. Paolo Bolog
