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‘I heard one huge and painful pop’: Man goes to The Joint for back pain. Then he gets this permanent injury

If you're considering going to a chiropractor, this man is urging you to think again.

You've likely seen satisfying videos of people having their neck or back quickly rotated by a chiropractor and experiencing instant relief.

People tend to go to chiropractors to help relieve pain, especially in their back, neck, and joints, and improve their mobility. But what happens when a treatment that's supposed to improve pain only brings on permanent damage?

Man permanently injured by The Joint chiropractor

In a viral video with more than 1.9 million views, popular TikToker Tyler Stanton shared his unfortunate story in an effort to warn others.

"PSA: Do NOT go to the chiropractor," Stanton said in the text overlay.

Stanton explained that last year, he'd been working hard to be in the best shape of his life by his 33rd birthday. On June 28, 2024—the day before his birthday—Stanton went to a chiropractor at the Joint, a national chain with more than 950 locations nationwide, to address tightness in the middle of his back.

When the chiropractor was adjusting him, they had some difficulties because Stanton was very tight, plus he's a "bigger guy." With his back, they made a second attempt with more force and were able to crack it.

The same thing happened with his neck and Stanton felt the chiro put a lot of force behind the neck turn.

"I heard one huge and painful pop. I knew immediately that something was wrong," Stanton said.

'The entire right side of my body just felt like static'

When he tried to sit up, the entire room was spinning, and he was profusely sweating (like you do before throwing up). He had to lay on the chiropractor's table for 30 minutes before feeling OK enough to walk out of the door.

But as soon as he got home, he became "violently ill" and was throwing up "uncontrollably."

Stanton hoped he'd be able to sleep it off and feel fine in the morning, but when he went to hit the snooze button on his phone, he realized something was deeply wrong.

"I was in the worst pain I've ever experienced in my entire life," Stanton said. "...The entire right side of my body just felt like static."

"It was really scary," he said.

Stanton called a friend to take him to the hospital, where he stayed for several weeks on and off as they try to help him manage the pain with epidural injections (that didn't make a dent into the pain) and figure out what was wrong.

What was wrong with him?

The doctors told Stanton that the chiropractor herniated his C6. (When a disc is herniated that means the soft center of the spine that's normally protected has slipped into the outer ring and is pushing against a nerve, according to Spine Info.

Stanton was presented with two treatment options:

Spinal fusion surgery to replace the vertebrae with a synthetic one and fuse them together. "That visual that he painted for me just made me wanna throw up, so absolutely not. Plus, I've heard so many horror stories about that surgery, specifically, people having to get it redone over and over and over again... I do not want to spend the rest of my life having neck surgery."

Physical therapy to manage the pain and see if he could live with the herniated disc. That's the option he chose and they sent him home with a pharmacy of meds and he had to rest for two more months.

In that time Stanton couldn't work and his savings "evaporated."

Will he sue The Joint?

At first Stanton didn't even want to consider suing the chirpoaprctor. While he did cause Stanton permeant damage, Stanton figured it wouldn't be so bad if he was able to get his mobility back and live with the pain. Plus, he could tell it was an accident.

"I don't feel like I should be coming after someone's livelihood," Stanton said.

But after months of physical therapy, Stanotn is still dealing with pain and is limited in what he can do physically.

"It just destroyed me, mentally, financially, and physically, all of it," he said.

Even though he feels morally conflicted about it, it's at the point where Stanton feels he has no choice but to sue, he said.

"This really just derailed my entire life overnight when I didn't do anything wrong," he said.

But even after reaching out to about 10 attornies, they're all too scared to take the case since they say winning a case against a chiro is really difficult.

"I wouldn't wish what happened to me and what is happening to me on my worst enemy," Stanton said.

"I just wanted to share this story so hopefully somebody could see ti and just take it as a warning. Like, please, don't go to the chiropractor, because if something happens there's not much that you can do," Stanton warned.

In a follow-up video, Stanton said several professionals encouraged him to keep looking for a lawyer to take on the case.

In an email response the Joint said the following:

"At The Joint Chiropractic, the safety of our patients and staff, and the integrity of the service we provide, are always our highest priorities. Due to HIPAA, we are not at liberty to share private health information related to alleged patients."

Are chiropractors safe?

While some people critique the chiropractic field and call it a pseudoscience, about 15% of adults in the United States seek it out for treatment, the New York Times reported.

It is unclear how many complications happen after seeing a chiro, but one study found an arterial dissection in one out of 1,000 neck manipulations, while a study written by chiropractors said the number was one in 5.8 million.

But more doctors are starting to recommend chiropractic care in addition to traditional treatments, and recent studies have found it to be effective for reducing pain and needing less medication, Healthline reported.

'Just canceled'

"At the very minimum he should be covering your medical and loss of income. Sure, you don’t want to sue anyone, but you also need to live. His insurance should cover it," a top comment read.

"Just canceled my chiropractor appointment," a person said.

"My sister is an ER doctor and has always warned me to NEVER allow a chiropractor to adjust my neck. So many injuries that can be life altering," another shared.

@tylerstantonnn Hoping this helps #foryoupage #chiropractor ♬ original sound - tyler stanton

The Daily Dot reached out to Stanton for comment.

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The post ‘I heard one huge and painful pop’: Man goes to The Joint for back pain. Then he gets this permanent injury appeared first on The Daily Dot.