Back pain: chiropractor, massage therapist or physical therapist?

I've been having mild to moderate upper-mid back and shoulder pain, on and off, for at least a few years. My neck often aches as well. I'm a 25 year old student who spends a lot of time sitting in front of a computer. I know my posture could be better, but it's difficult to maintain when sitting in front of a laptop. So my question is, do you think I should see a chiropractor, massage therapist, or physical therapist about this? I feel like my muscles are almost always very tight, but I have had a bit of shooting pain in my upper-mid back and some mild tingling down my arms (rarely). I would like to hear from people who visited any of these specialists. Thanks!
Best answer:
Hi Illumina,
This is a question that's very near to me as I've had back pain for many years and have been through all the methods you've mentioned. I've gone through back surgery as well. It's not fun in any sense of the word.

The first thing I would say here is go to your general physician first to be examined to find out what the root cause is and what damage may have actually occurred. Getting advice from a place like this is not in your best interest.

That being said:

If you're experiencing tingling of any sort this could be a pinched nerve or a lack of circulation. Neural damage can be a VERY serious issue! Chiropractic services may help but isn't a guarantee as some chiropractors use quite different methods and each person has different results. Some find chiropractic methods to be useless. My experience has been about fifty-fifty. Now I'm in a place where a chiropractor really can't offer me much help. Your response to this type of therapy may end up to be a disappointment. Get a checkup first and get a referral.

Although a massage therapist may help to relieve some of this discomfort and pain in the short term there may be more complex muscular or neural issues here and a massage therapist (even to the point of shiatzu or deep massage) might not be able to truly "repair" the situation. This may end up delaying the inevitable visit to a specialist after all is said and done.

A massage sure feels good though when you've got tight muscles! :)

After surgery and seeing my primary care physician I've now found that physical therapy is the best for my case (which is really all the opinion I can give after all- my personal experience) and may be so for you in the long run. Physical therapy is not just the about the therapy you receive on the table when they use their "machines" on you to relieve the pain (i.e. laser, electro stimulation to increase circulation, ultrasonic heat, etc.) you are also taught to begin certain beneficial exercises that will help to repair your range of motion and restore some of the muscularity, through exercise, that will restore your health for the long term. This long-term fitness is more beneficial IMHO as your learn to change your lifestyle toward a more aware state of health. Staying fit and active is always more beneficial overall for continued well being in any event. The specially-focused exercises that they will teach you will aid in recovery as well as keeping you stronger and able to fend off potential injury in the future. It just takes work on your part and continued will power to keep it going on your own time.

That takes care of my opinion on the therapies you've mentioned but there is another as well. Once you've had your visit to the doctor he may also refer you to a pain clinic. This is a clinic that may start specific drug therapies to relieve your pain through anti-inflamatories, pain killers and other potential methods. This is usually a more serious approach though as such a referral might indicate serious and long-term injury that may only allow you to be "pain-free" through a regimen of rather drastic medications to give you relief. Sometimes this is the best way to gain relief so that you can begin to heal yourself and gain the "upper hand" enough to begin changing your "practices" toward a less damaging posture or allow you to be free to start beneficial exercises and begin recovery.

What it really boils down to is the fact that you need to see your primary doctor and tell him/her what your experiencing and he/she will examine and recommend a course of therapy from that point. As I said this forum is probably not the best place to ask for answers. Where the spine and vertebrae are involved there can be very serious consequences to the nature of how to proceed without potentially increasing your pain and/or possibly damaging yourself even further.

You also mentioned that you spend a lot of time in front of the computer. I found this to be rather painful myself so I bought a lapdesk (try doing a search using the word "lapdesk" to get an idea of what is available out there- they don't have to be very expensive unless you want a "top of the line" model) that allows me to sit back in a chair more comfortably with the keyboard directly on my lap and a pillow under it for support. There are also more ergonomic keyboards out there that may alleviate some of the stress on your wrists and arms in the short term (I'm betting you're probably aware of some or all of this already).

But if you have injured yourself (I know I'm repeating myself but I think this is the most important point to get across here) you NEED to see a physician and tell him/her what you're experiencing.

A chiropractor may help but you should be referred to one by your doctor, A physical therapist may help even more but, again, a doctor should give you a referral in the outset- after examination and diagnosis.

A masseuse may give you relief from minor discomfort and will certainly feel good (like going to a spa for the day might) but if you have some serious damage a massage can only do so much if you have injured yourself.

After so many years of dealing with this I truly hope that what you're experience is minor and easily restored. I wouldn't want you to go through what I have in any event. I'll never be "pain-free" and have had to learn to live with the pain and damage that has happened to me. It can be rather exhausting at times and I hope you don't have to learn about long term injury

Best of luck!

PS: Go see your doctor (did I mention that? lol) Go see your doctor. ;)
Best answer:
Many physicians, a surgeon or two and lots of hearsay from others in the same boat.