Chiropractors

[Endless Mike]

Dr. Steve,
I would like to get your personal and professional opinion on chiropractors. When I say chiropractors I mean the so-called "straight" chiropractors that adhere to DD Palmer's original claims. Can they really prevent and cure disease simply by manipulating the spine?

[Dr Steve]

Originally Posted by Endless Mike

Dr. Steve,
I would like to get your personal and professional opinion on chiropractors. When I say chiropractors I mean the so-called "straight" chiropractors that adhere to DD Palmer's original claims. Can they really prevent and cure disease simply by manipulating the spine?

Mike:

Some of my best friends are chiropractors.



Most allopathic physicians believe that chiropractic really shines in the area where it's been studied the most in the standard medical literature: low back pain. Also, most allopathic physicians (regular western medicine practitioners) don't believe that manipulating the spine affects the major organs, either adversely or otherwise.

However, there's a larger issue here. In some parts of the world, if you go to a "doctor" you're likely to get a guy who just waves palm fronds over you and makes a lot of noise. These guys have a success rate (judged by the patient stating they feel better) that's almost as good as western medicine, and with a lot fewer adverse events from medications and surgical procedures. This stems from patients needing the "process of recognition" from their practitioner more than they really need any kind of treatment. The shaman and the western medical provider both provide this recognition of the patient as a human being with real problems and patients respond favorably to this. Now, there are lots of things that scientific medicine does way better than shamanistic medicine does: treating overwhelming infections, preventing disease (vaccines, sanitation, etc), fixing broken bones, etc., but for everything else, the shamans do quite well.

A lot of Western Trained physicians forget (or didn't pay attention in "medicine and society" class) that the simple process of recognition is therapeutic. Chiropractors are masters at this process, and they're very successful in making certain patients feel better which in the end is all that really matters.

[Endless Mike]

So if most physicians don't believe that spinal manipulation can affect the major organs, then why do chiropractors claim that they do? My chiropractor helped me a lot with my back pain, but he was also saying some pretty crazy things about "innate intelligence", immunizations, and prescription drugs.
-Mike

[tanless1]

I do use a chiropractor, also massage therapy...about once a month, mostly due to lack of exercise and sitting most the day, then when I do exert myself...you know the story. The tales have be regailed to me, in folkloric manner... patter during the session. ( may have to due w/ stress release, as that can effect a body adversley)
...but id never continue w/ a chiropracter that believed he could cure hepatitus w/ hot pack on my big toe and a knee in my back)
Finding a GOOD chiropracter is not easy, and just because they operate in the same practice is not a good enough endorsement. Chiropractors and churches
Are similiar in that it can be more healthy to walk out and find a good one, than stick around and let a poor quality one wreck you.
I have 4 that I trust, and there is a preference order. I have found that the chiropracter that often work w/ workmans comp therapy/reabilitation tend to be employed/screend by price and schmooze-ability than they are by technic and understanding of the art..... in my experience those have been the roughest and least compassionate and impatient, they might know the process but have not understood/ or lacked the willingness to translate muscle tension into oportune- body transition - timing.

[NateCantDance]

I go to a chiropractor about once every two weeks mostly to relieve back and neck pressure/pain due to working out and powerlifting. I genuinely feel better after I've been adjusted, and have a better range of motion afterwords. In that sense I can recommend a chiro wholeheartedly. To me getting my neck cracked gives me the same satisfaction and relief as cracking my knuckles.

What I'm not too fond of is the anti-medical doctor slant that seems to come up whenever the topic of sickness or aches and pains come up, my chiro is always talking about the evils of modern medicine and how she can cure everything with some acupuncture, 4 Zinc lozenges and a spinal adjustment. I don't buy into that quackery.

[stinkbud]

I am a chiropractic physician and I have been for over ten years now. I will say what I always say on this subject...what we do works. And what we do is treat musculoskeletal pain.

Yes there are some of my colleagues who claim to do other things. And you know what, some are quite successful at what they do. And it is not all hokum. The theory that chiropractors adjust the cervical spine to treat ear infections, for example...it is actually legitimate. Stimulation of certain bundles of nerves in the neck (parasympathetic ganglia) during a manipulation can cause a relaxation of spasmed eustacian tubes thus draining the fluid causing infections. My practice is currently limited to personal injury, but i have experience int his and let me tell you, I have helped several children avoid surgical interventions. And it IS safe to adjust children. I personally adjust both of my daughters. When each was born I adjusted their cervical spines - not like I would an adult of course. Manipulating a baby's spine is more of a gentle vibration of the finger on the vertebra. This is helpful as wnen a baby comes out of the birth canal, the neck is twisted awkwardly. Did this prevent any potential problems? I have no idea, but it did not cause any harm. My girls are now 7 and 9 and are quite healthy.

I am not about to go on about the miracles of removing subluxations to let the body's innate intelligence flow more readily to cure disease. But like I said, and like Dr. Steve said earlier, the chiropractors who do get good results.

I look at it like this...I am a specialist. I treat dysfunctions in the musculoskeletal system. I do not use invasive procedures or chemical medicine on my patients. I do advocate such treatments when they are necessary, and often they are. Chiropractors should be looked at as portal of entry doctors for patients with musculoskeletal pain. Some patients presenting with "simple" low back pain may actually have grave conditions like cancer. It is up to the chiropractor to correctly diagnose what is happening and reccomend a course of treatment or refer to the proper medical professional specific to the problem.

I am not a "straight" chiropractor by any means. Some are excellent at what they do. Some will try to sell you on a cash treatment program that is more like a hard-sell at a gym. Hell, some "mixers" (as the more medically oriented chiros are called - fyi I HATE THESE LABELS) are guilty of the same thing. Don't be scared off by a particular doctor's philosophy. Talk to friends and other doctors. Get opinions and referrals. Like anything else, be a cautious consumer and practice due dilligence.

Good luck!