Question
hi;
here's my long history:
i have been suffering from chronic pain for 9 yrs, i am 33yrs old now. it started with low back pain, and through cat scans and mri scans, the dr diagnoised 2 herniated disks, narrowing of the nerve openings, mild compression of the nerves, degerative disk disease and arthritis. over a period of years (as pain started to infilterate the rest of my body) i was sent to pt- who only caused more pain, a chiropractor- it always loosened things up a little,  several nuerosurgeons- who told me that based on the scans i shouldn't have that much pain, so i must be a drug addict looking to get drugs. finally (frustrated that things were getting worse), i decided to change fields and wanted to go to an orhtopaedic dr. in order to be accepted as a patient i needed a general dr (mine had retired and i didn't have a new one yet) so i called a new dr in town. she is very caring and she actually believed what i told her. i was then diagnosed with raynards syndrome, and she did exrays of my hands, suspecting rhuematoid arthritis, which showed deformation in the joints. she immediately referred ,me to a rhuematologist, but with only one in the area with office hours once a week, it took almost a year before my first appointment. so,i went to the orthoped. and he gave me drugs, that never worked, and finally sent me to a pain clinic. this dr was also an orthapaedic surgeon, he did orthopaedic manipulation and all the tight muscles felt wonderful when he was done- really the only relief- even though it was short lived- that any treatment ever did. he said i suffer from chronic myofascial pain then he ordered pt, and i learned that my pelvis was misaligned, so that was fixed. then he order nerve blocks for my back, that did not work, it caused more pain- so i declined anymore, and i was told that if i refused the nerve blocks they wouldn't treat me. so i continued with the other orthoped. and finally got into the rhuemy and on to another pain clinic at about the same time. the rhuematolgist suspected lupus, but immediately did the tenderpoint test and said that there was no doubt that this is fibromyalgia, and also ran lots of blood work to rule out other things (all negative, although the lupus and ra bloodwork weren't exactly the numbers they should be, they were suspious.) i also had started at the other pain clinic, more drugs and nerve blocks that didn't work. finally, i told the pain dr that the powerful narcotics he had me on were making me sick and i wanted something else, and the nerve blocks aren't working so i don't want them. and he told me that he won't change the meds, i must be an addict looking for drugs (if i were an addict i would be wanting more of what he had me on), that i don't have fibro. based on you had to be female (me), between 25-40 (me) and you had to have had a disruptive or abusive childhood (he knew nothing about my childhood)- not that it really does have anything to do with it. i told him that my rhuematologist diagnoised, it not him. somehow (i'm not sure how this came up) he also mentioned that when i came in that day i told him that my pain level was 8, but i really told him that it was 6, so i told him 8 was wrong and it should be changed (they keep track in the chart) and he refused to. he went back through the chart and read to me all my office visit pain levels and he had that all at 8, again i told him that it wasn't right and should be changed, again he refused. lastly he said the only other option is surgery (of all the other drs, he is the only one- the rest said that i am not a canidate for surgery) and i said i really don't want to do that and started to ask a question about surgery and he interupted me & said 'i have other patients' and walked out. the next week i had an appointment with my rheumy. (who is so supportive and helpful) and he told me to dump that guy, and he will do things that help, and if i say it's not working, we'll try other things. so now i'm on meds, that are providing more relief than anything i've ever had.
at this point, i really don't know what i have and what i don't have. i haven't had scans in years.
my question, i still have aches and pains, and alot of it is caused from the  tight muscles in my back and neck, will my chiropractor help with this? and if so, exactly what should he do (so i can make an appointment and know he's doing the right thing)
sorry this is so long,
thank you so much,
char

Answer
Hello Char,

    You may want to find a doctor of chiropractic who specializes in soft tissue/sport injuries.  They will be able focus on areas of scar tissue or adhesions in the muscle,ligament, or tendon.  This will help reduce tension and allow the affected joint to stay in proper alignment.  You may also want to ask if they do nutritional counseling, diet is very important when dealing with chronic pain.  Food allergies can cause or increase or symptoms.  Continue to inform all doctors you are working about your condition and treatments that are being done.  This will give them a cumulative understanding of your condition and what can be done next.

Have a great day,
Dr. Brendon O'Brien D.C.