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'Chiropractors Are Bullshit' (theoutline.com)
From an article on The Outline, submitted by two readers: If you're one of the approximately 80 percent of Americans who have suffered from back pain, you may have been referred to a chiropractor for medical help. In the modern-day internet landscape, you'll find chiropractic celebrities like Dr. Josh Axe (1.7 million Facebook followers), Dr. Billy DeMoss (20,000 Facebook followers), and Dr. Eric Berg (472,000 YouTube subscribers) giving advice that goes beyond managing spinal issues. Both in their offices and on social media, chiropractors have adapted to a marketplace that's demanding more than just pain management: they extol the virtues of an "alkaline diet," tell you how to manage stress with detoxing, and wax scientific about the adrenal gland. [...] Chiropractic care, I'm sorry to say, is little more than the buffoonery of a 19th-century lunatic who derived most of his medical theory from seances. It has not evolved much since its creation. Chiropractic beliefs are dangerously far removed from mainstream medicine, and the vocation's practices have been linked to strokes, herniated discs, and even death. Chiropractors can't replace your doctor, and I'm amazed that they're still even allowed to practice. [...] Though some chiropractors are now making an effort to introduce evidence-based practices into their treatment, chiropractic as a whole hasn't evolved like other areas of medicine -- with hypotheses, experimentation, and peer review. Instead, it was birthed by a strange combination of hocus pocus, guesswork, and strongly held religious beliefs.
I used to go to the chiropractor for my back. It hurt, but afterwards I felt better.
Then I started massage therapy instead. I felt better, and it didn't hurt, either. Win-win.
Now I just go sit in the sauna. Just as effective, much cheaper. Win-win-win. All win for me.
"First they came for the slanderers and i said nothing."
http://www.webmd.com/hypertension-high-blood-pressure/news/20070316/chiropractic-cuts-blood-pressure#1
March 16, 2007 -- A special chiropractic adjustment can significantly lower high blood pressure, a placebo-controlled study suggests.
"This procedure has the effect of not one, but two blood-pressure medications given in combination," study leader George Bakris, MD, tells WebMD. "And it seems to be adverse-event free. We saw no side effects and no problems," adds Bakris, director of the University of Chicago hypertension center.
Not all chiropractic is bad.
My GP is cross-trained to perform chiropractic adjustments.
Once, I was unable to straighten my back due to nerve entrapment and possibly bones actually not lining up; this may have to do with being rear-ended a while back, but that’s immaterial to the conversation.
A few agonizing back-rocking movements with a pillow and a fist, and two neck-twists, and I was physically capable of straightening without grinding bone against bone. Add a shot of some kind of potent muscle relaxant, and suddenly I’m capable of straightening my back.
Perhaps the best approach is to incorporate the evidence-based portions of chiropractic methods into a traditional clinical setting like my GP has done? I guess I’m suggesting that we don’t throw the baby out with the bathwater, pretty much. Sometimes the problem really is a subluxation, after all, even if they’re not responsible for the majority of human illness.
I don't pretend to know all the in and out of medicine but I have learned one very important thing: chiropractors make you feel better for a day but a physical therapist will help you fix that which is causing you pain. A physical therapist may have you do a certain exercise every morning or some jazz but it prevents you have having painful issues later that would send you crying to a chiropractor.
Anons need not reply. Questions end with a question mark.
I constantly see articles like this on the internet decrying the the evil unscientific ways of chiropractors, but I have never encountered in in the real world. This is despite having many friends and family members that have seen many different chiropractors in multiple states. Some that work with large practices, others that look like old hippies working part time out of their home. Yet not of them, not one, has claimed to cure anything other than skeletal/muscular problems like chronic back pain, bad posture/gaits, legitimate referred pain, etc.
I've read about the history of chiropractic medicine, and yeah it is pretty ridiculous. Just like the early history of psychology and other medical practices. And I'm sure there probably are still a few quacks out there, but most of the quackery that you linked is also espoused by celebrity MDs, not just or even mostly chiropractors. It seems like the vast majority of the field has moved on past their unsavory roots; when will the internet crusaders move on as well?
One of my best friends decided to become a chiropractor, years ago -- so I got to learn a fair bit about that whole process and the challenges it presented.
First off? Yeah, it's true. A whole lot of people become a chiropractor because they're looking for a profession they can make a lot of money in, without all the studying required for a genuine medical degree. This isn't unlike a lot of people who go into dentistry though, either. In other words, it's not really a reason to write the whole field off as useless. It just means you've got to navigate the "minefield" of people who care more about buying their next luxury car or vacation home than your health.
But the other issue is, chiropractors do generally struggle to get well established. The guys with the big practices running ads on the radio constantly are the few that the rest of them aspire to be someday. People like my buddy started out genuinely wanting to help people manage their pain without resorting to getting all doped up on pain medications. That's, IMO, pretty legitimate. Problem is -- that doesn't quite pay the bills. His chiropractic college he graduated from put him almost 6 figures in student loan debt, and then he had to take out the small business loan for his own office and equipment. What usually happens is the struggling chiro says, "You know.... I could really use something to pad my revenue and pay the rent on this place. I know this lady who does acupuncture who needs an office to work out of....", or "Nobody ever got hurt taking a few essential vitamins and minerals. I should start selling some of these on the side." Before long, their practice is hawking all sorts of nonsense alternative medicine (because there's a demand for that from those who believe in it), and it's all justifiable if you view it as the power of the placebo effect and state of mind playing a role in how healthy you feel.
I think some people truly do get benefit from chiropractors, and that's a big reason insurance companies will still pay out for visits to them after car accidents. If it was pure quackery, they would have refused to give them a dime long ago. I used to know a gal, for example, who had some serious back problems. On a good day, she'd be up walking or running about like nothing was wrong at all. But she had occasional situations where her back would literally seize up, and she couldn't straighten herself back up after bending over, or found she couldn't get up out of bed in the morning. Traditional doctors didn't have a whole lot to offer her, besides highly addictive pain pills.They put her on disability so she got her monthly payment from SSI and didn't have to work. But really, that whole thing was a rather sad "solution". (90% of the time, she was as mobile as anyone else. There had to be a way she could hold down a job despite her issues.) She figured out that regular visits to a chiropractor really helped loosen up tight back muscles and certain adjustments gave her temporary pain relief and less likelihood of her back totally freezing up on her. She couldn't afford to go often, but did so when she could get a deal from a chiropractor who took pity on her situation.
You're right, but your conclusion isn't. Neither is BS, both work. I used BS in relation to the headline - which itself is BS, generalizing "chiropractors" to include fringe therapies well beyond what many (most?) chiropractors practice. It's painting with a very, very, broad brush. One could just as easily point to questionable practices by a subset of MDs, there are many to chose from. It's a case of invalid generalization. What's next, picking on osteopaths?
I see it as a spectrum with increasing training, and a difference in focus - physical therapists, chiropractors, osteopaths, MDs (although the OD/MD distinction has lessened over time). There are physical maladies which can be helped with physical manipulation in lieu of drugs or invasive surgery, which is what MDs tend to push. The article was written by someone with a biased agenda.
"National Security is the chief cause of national insecurity." - Celine's First Law
There is evidence that chiropractic techniques may help with some back pain issues. But probably more important is that many chiropractors aren't the true believers and will also use modern medical techniques (ice packs, massage, etc). Some studies have shown that even effective chiropractic treatments to be no better than conventional treatments, but if the chiropractor is cheaper maybe consider it.
Like many alternative medicines, it's generally safe so it won't cause harm if used sparingly. Go for a visit or two and if it helps great. But don't get sucked into the core chiropractic belief, don't neglect seeing a real doctor, etc. At least most US chiropractors do recommend seeing real doctors, a big plus over homeopaths.
Agreed.
I was very skeptical of chiropractors until I needed one. In grad school I would walk several miles to and from campus every day and somehow kept spraining the inside of my ankle. I saw multiple GPs, PT specialists, orthopedists, etc At the time grad students got free health insurance and I was referred to the PhD/MDs that were part of the med school on campus who were supposedly some of the best in their fields. I'd be fine for a week or two and then I'd be back on the crutches. Finally my wife suggested I try her chiro.
At the first visit, he figured out by watching me walk over to his exam room one leg was longer than the other by a little over an inch and I would pronate as I walked to compensate. After adjusting me, he said it would take 5 more visits. Before the fifth visit, he said I needed to get orthodics to compensate for the difference that couldn't be fixed by straightening me out. Now, unless I do something stupid that causes me not to wear my orthodics, I'm fine. I've had no more mysterious ankle sprains.
I don't know how this isn't scientific. He took measurements, formulated a plan, did adjustments that reduced pain and eliminated the swelling and inflammation without pharmaceuticals, got to the root problem, and referred me to a specialist who created custom orthodics to solve the underlying problem.
In my mind this is way better than the traditional medical approach of treating the symptoms with drugs and not really addressing the underlying problems.
I was never offered specific dietary advice other than lose a few pounds, but I was overweight from long days and eating poorly while slaving away for my PhD advisor, so that was to be expected. No crystals, no fancy sensors, no continuous treatments for the rest of my life.
Since then I have been more open to other "alternative" medical treatment. I used to have horrible insomnia... I saw sleep specialists, I was sent to a psychologist because it just had to be stress, and finally a GP told me I had reached the limits of modern pharmacology. A friend referred me to an acupuncturist. On my first visit, he said "looking at the condition of the skin, you're short on these neurotransmitters". I was skeptical so I had the levels tested and a week of supplements later I was sleeping 8 hours per night for the first time in decades.
Do I think that releasing my Chi will suddenly grant me immunity to the flu? No. Do I think my accupuncturist is an experienced specialist who thinks outside of the standard flowchart most doctors follow? Yep.
That's the key to everything. Find the experts that get real referrals. Do your homework and don't just dismiss things without it. Regardless of the field there are a lot of pretenders out there. I've seen incompetent people in a lot of areas... IT providers who can't patch a server, contractors who can't safely install anything, Doctors who miss the simple because they are trained to look at a problem through a specific lens are no different.