Expert: Scott F. Gillman, DC, DACBSP - 4/26/2010

Question
QUESTION: I recently had a sprained ankle for about a month, and during that time, I primarily walked crooked to put most of my weight on my right leg.  My ankle is all better, but now the middle of my body from my neck to my waist is crooked,leaning to my right.  A chiropractor told me I needed treatment x a week for 7 weeks.  Is he right, or is there something I can do at home?

ANSWER: Jesus,

I could use a bit more information.   Is your "middle of body from neck to waist" in pain?  Is is crooked because you have pain, or do you just naturally lean a bit to the right?   There is absolutely no way to predict how many weeks it takes to straighten out a crooked spine.  If you have pain, then it would be reasonable to assume that you could be out of pain in a few days or weeks with treatment, depending on what mix of treatment procedures the chiropractor used.  If you have no pain, then something else is going on.  

Dr. G


---------- FOLLOW-UP ----------

QUESTION: I have lower left back pain now whenever I walk or stand up for more than 20 minutes.  My entire back is not in pain, but it does lean to the right.

Answer
Jesus,

Based on this new information, it is possible that by limping around on your bad ankle, you irritated a disc in your lumbar spine.   The same treatment rules apply:  there is no absolute way to predict how long it will take to alleviate this.   It could be a few days or a few weeks.  Nobody has a crystal ball to forecast "7 weeks."   The fact that you do not have leg/calf/foot pain or numbness radiating from your back means that you don't have sciatica.  Likely you simply have irritation to the disc(s) that sit in between your vertebrae.  You may want to find a different chiropractor... Also, if you are under the age of 50 and have no significant health/medical problems, then do not be suckered into getting back x-rays by anyone.  Simply try some chiropractic treatment and see if it resolves your condition in a reasonable amount of time.   

'Hope this was helpful.

Dr. G