My Chiropractic experience in KL, Malaysia

My first encounter with chiropractor was around 10 years ago at ss2 Premier chiropractic with Eric, i followed my mom for general alignment without any symptoms. After the session i feel looser and i can stand more upright. Since then when i feel a need to stand more upright or have a better posture, i would go to chiro for a quick fix. However i notice the upright feeling only last for few hours or a day most, then you're back to your usual self. The charge per treatment is rm80-100 and each session usually last less than 8mins sometimes 5mins thats all is needed. You enter a room and present him your symptoms he will do a quick 30sec check and proceed to manipulate your spine lower mid upper and fingers and neck then off you go.

My second chiropractor was at Aligned with Daniel Tan (galleria Hartamas) who practice gonstead technique which has a more specific joint manipulation rather than overall joint manipulation. Because gonstead usually only target a specific joint so you only get 1-2 adjustment in a session. You will feel like a rip off if your used to traditional or diversified technique which they crack all of your body parts. With gonstead you always must have Xray done beforehand so they can draw line and tell how much degree your spine,neck,hip has deviated.... if you have deviation in all 3 parts, he would only adjust 1 part say the neck and thats it off you go.... the reason being to allow time for the neck to heal, if lower body were adjusted your body might be receiving too many cue/signal and proper healing couldnt be achieve..... the next session if your neck hasnt heal the way he would like he would adjust the neck again maybe this time plus middle spine.... so we havent reach the hip yet..... so you see where this is going right? I first went to see daniel for right shoulder injury/pain from heavy lifting, my front shoulder is tender when touch and general discomfort. The symptoms exacerbated after i did foam rolling using trigger point ball last night. What he did was to push my shoulder (or humerus) back in place. It took me 2 treatment to solve the problem, usually people who has rounded or forward shoulder would benefit from this treatmemt. Cost rm150-200 with 20-30mins each session. Even thought the adjustment is less however the assessment and communication took up most of the time since he is quite friendly and easy to chat with. I got a few girlfriends who want to accompany me just to see his face... 😅

My third chiropractor was Shane at Axis chiropractic (bandar utama) who practice dry needling as well. In each session first he would carry out diversified technique like Eric in promier chiro, then he will move you onto to another room giving you a massage using thumper machine where the machine vibrates up and down and is applied to your back to loosen up the muscle, next he will proceed with dry needling in my case left upper traps and supraspinatus since i have a shoulder imbalance left upper trap is higher and bulkier (more activated) but less strength compare to the normal right side. He will usually use 4 needle/insertion point. Finally he would move you on to another room where you will get EMS- electrical muscle stimulation (or something like TENS) to rehab/relax the muscle. Cost rm100-150 each session last 30-45mins.

My fourth health practitioner was at Osteocare bangsar, this time is a traditional tit tar (bone & joint specialist) after seeing what was done with Wah Tot Tit Tar i decide to try the traditional way. Osteocare also practice. Their manipulation is more or much the same as diversified/general technique but with extra like circling the elbow to click it back in place, and spinal decompression a technique which i love as i feel my whole spine being pull apart or loosen up from neck down to sacral. In western they call it the ring dinger.

However i was told this technique is not really safe to perform, therefore there is only a handful of people who do this in Malaysia.

My fifth person would be a Traditional chinese Medicine practioner, pan soo fong at 醫和中医正骨针灸 puchong, she specialise in acupuncture, cupping and spine manipulation. I had done all three of them and mind you her cupping method was a bit painful totally different from my expectation. If look at the markings is deep purple colour rather than lighter in colour and the bruising from moving the cup around at my upper chest.

as you can see from the mirror reflection the marks are still there after 1 week though the colour is gone by now but it took 2weeks plus for me to completely remove the watermark like circle. Dr Pan is very pro pilates so she teaches me some pilates rehab movement. My treatment with her revolves around opening up my chest to expose them to the world as they are currently in a more cave in position from tightness. Cost rm150 each session last 45-60mins with cupping/acupuncture and spine manipulation done plus some exercise.

My most recent chiropractor is Sean from Discover chiropractic(SS2) who practise gonstead technique. His manipulation is the most aggressive compared to the rest. I say aggressive because i can feel inflammation at the affected joint after manipulation, meaning he pushes the joint much more deeper and with more precision. He only specialise in look at your spine, nothing else but solely spine. His main job is to get your nerve supply in healthy state without any obstruction. So if you complain of knee problem that might not be his concern depending on circumstances. Basically gonstead practitioner will start at looking at your x-ray then proceed to use an instrument that glide up/down your spine to check or confirm inflamed joints. Then he will proceed to palpitate or touch with his hand on each joint and check for tenderness. Again he would only do 1-2 joint manipulation in a session and then he will retest the joint and usually your tenderness would either reduce or gone. That is how he give you a feeling that his manipulation is working.  Cost rm 150-200 each session 10-15mins

My conclusion with chiropractic care is a bit of mixed feeling, definitely you feel looser and improve range of motion generally a better feeling after a session. However the treatment doesn't last long most of the time you are back to where you started thats why you usually would see a chiropractor once every week for a month or two initially. I find that the muscle will always pull back your joint to the initial position, thats why you need multiple session to lock in the joint in place. If you are able to incorporate soft tissue work (muscle,tendon ligament) and exercise to strengthen weak muscle you will be better. I feel that chiro works best if you have a significant sublaxation or misalignment of the bone. If the misalignment is minor you probably won't feel much difference in few days time due to your muscle pulling back the joints in position. (you can't correct posture problem, rounded/forward shoulder in few session because your muscle has adapted overtime to your lifestyle).

I go to chiropractor now not for fixing my problem/symptoms cause it doesn't in my opinion (unless a significant misalignment occur). I go to chiropractor now to aligned my spine with aim of having a healthy nerve supply free from obstruction so it can allow my body to heal. I see chiropractor as a means of providing a better environment for my body to heal itself just like when you got a cut or bruises you cover the area with plaster or cream to protect the area and the body will know what to do.

I have met alot of health practitioner and gets alot of treatment done but i can clearly see something is lacking.... which is why i'm giving up pharmacy to pursue to a new career.... I will announce the field i'm going in after everything is confirmed. Good Luck to me