In my experience they are helpful with aacute muscular pains that might be brought on by lifting somrthing heavy e.g. Not so greatfpr chrpnic pain such as longstanding TMJ or back pain
I personally don't trust Chiropractors myself. I agree they might help by making a very minor adjustment for something that popped out. But in general my opinion would be to go to your orthopedic doctor. I have heard more people get injured than helped by them. I have been injured by adjustments too. I have a good (small) book I read on back pain. It is called Conquer Back and Neck Pain: Walk It Off. By Mark D. Brown MD, Ph.D. It really helped me. I have chronic back pain. It has some good suggestions about diagnosis, and when you should just start exercising and literally walking to start with. I did just that and finally after 4 years and NO surgery and many doctors. I should have done this sooner. I started walking then hills, then stairs then finally got the gym and got a personal master trainer who is skilled in injured people. I have been with him for 4 months. My back pain is almost gone and knee pain. I get a few bad days but I am getting much stronger. It is expensive but worth it. Medical bills are expensive too. I would have never been able to do all this on my own. I don't go to physical therapists as I was injured badly by one then re-injured by another. They like to use "hands on" treatment and over do it. That is another reason I don't like chiropractors.
my 3 cents.
mkh9
Hi there i can only speak from my own experiencei visited a chiropractic every week for four weeks with neck & back pain & it made my condition so much worse since having a neck manipulation i now suffer with extreme pain nerve root impingement & multiple herniations i also have tinittus which i have had for 2 years if you visit a chiropractor don't let him manipulate your neck. On the other hand it helped with the back. Im not sure if i already damaged my neck b4 seeing him but he definitely made me worse please be careful
If I were you, I would go to an Osteopathic Doctor or DO. They can work on your body like a chiropractor in addition to being an MD. It almost sounds as if you hurt your neck, then started tensing up in other areas of the body because of the neck. There is a great website, free, it is called Do it yourself joint pain relief . com. It is really helpful. I have seen a chiropractor off and on for 30 years he has always helped me quite a bit.
Good luck
Dee