until after about 3 weeks I'm back to 85+%. Then the last 15% is gradual improvement over the next month or so. I got to be fairly good friends with a local chiropractor. He was a good guy, tried his hardest to help me out. Sometimes I thought it helped, other times not really.

The thing is, it hurts so bad that if it can even give me 25% improvement, I'll take that. But honestly, most of the time the improvement was slight, not dramatic. Even though he was a fine doc and tried his hardest, I just didn't think that I benefitted enough from it to make it worthwhile. So I quit going. When it happens now I just deal with it and let it gradually fade on its own. My wife has gone to him a few times and feels the same way about. it. This doc is not one of types who says - okay, this is going to take about five moths of treatment to really get you back in shape. I wouldn't buy into that.

Another chiro that I know as a neighbor is more that type of doc. They want to get you locked into months' worth of treatments. That seems somewhat questionable to me.

Trying to look at it more objectively I think about what they're doing and it seems to me that they can't explain precisely themselves what is really happening on a detailed anatomical basis. Like which nerves are being affected? In what way has the adjustment changed the alignment of my spine? Anatomically, how is this adjustment going to bring relief? It is definitely not anywhere near an exact science. They'll take x-rays to start, look at them and explain a few things, but then once treatment starts, they rarely look back at the x-rays again to evaluate improvement. It's often just, adjust and see ya next week.

Overall, depending on where we have lived, I've probably been to at least six or seven different chiropractors over the years. One of them I'd never go back to, the others I feel the same about them as I do about the latest one I've described.

It's true that some people swear that it brings them relief. If it does, then good, keep going. But if it doesn't, or if the improvement is very marginal, maybe think about letting time take its course. Time heals most injuries. The body is amazing at repairing itself.