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LINK Chiropractors are bullshit | The Outline

This may ruffle some feathers because I know folks who swear by chiropractic. I have always had some reservations, and this is pretty succinct.

HippieChick58 9 Sep 1
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15 comments

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1

I have never felt the need (or confidence in that discipline) to seek chiropractic care, and I have had some life-changing spinal issues. Probably because of the severity of the spinal trauma I was considerably less likely to seek anything other than an MD and a PT (physical therapist). I also have several medical professionals in my family, so have a bit better understanding of anatomy and physiology (curiosity, higher education, and by osmosis) than does the average person - all the more reasons for me to be skeptical of chiropractic practitioners. I have friends who swear by it, for themselves and for their dogs, I just smile and am happy for them, but certainly cannot agree. I've not heard one way or another from the dogs, come to think of it...

2

i must have a very good BS detector b/c i haven't believed in them for decades. i put them on the same level as acupuncturists.

3

I call bullshit on this opinion piece. First of all, stop holding up traditional doctors and medicine as a bastion of anything. I guarantee each of us has at least one story where traditional doctors have fucked up. Do we disregard all doctors and all traditional practices because of the deaths and negligence so prominent in the traditional arena? Second of all, if you choose to see a chiropractor, then be selective, dammit. Not all chiropractors have experience in treating all ailments. I was diagnosed with stenosis a couple of years ago: I had debilitating pain in one arm and shoulder. My family practitioner sent me to a pain doctor, who recommended steroid injections, escalating to surgery if the injections didn’t help. I decided to try a chiropractor. I’d seen one decades ago for a neck injury; he did wonders for my neck and back and general health (he was also a nutritionist—another discipline often debased by traditionalists). As we should do with any doctor, I researched chiropractors in my area and got referrals. I wanted one who had experience treating stenosis. The chiropractor I selected x-rayed me, explained the curvature in my spine had straightened, causing the pinching of the nerves, and treated me three times/week (covered by my corporate insurance). The pain went away. I continued for several months and took a break. I’ll be going back for regular treatments. With his treatments, occasional wearing of a neck brace, and self work on my posture, the curvature is actually returning. This story about seeing a chiro who promises to heal all issues is a straw man. I wouldn’t hire that chiro anymore than I would buy an elixir from a carnival stand. Be discerning, do your research. Get references. Don’t count strictly on traditional healers. Remember, it’s the traditionalists who keep America’s healthcare system the most expensive in the developed world, with the worst health outcomes in areas like mother and infant deaths at childbirth.

You do realize you can call yourself a "Doctor of Chiropractic" with a high School diploma and a 6-month online course, or just 2 years at a "reputable" chiropractic "college", right?

@AnneWimsey is there something I wrote that makes you think I would walk into an arbitrary office because there’s a sign that says “chiropractor”? I research all health practitioners, including getting references, before choosing one. A diploma alone means little. The human being doing the healing is critical—their education, background, experience and patient outcomes. There are more cases of negligence, maltreatment and bad outcomes from accredited medical doctors and hospitals than one can shake a stick at. I would caution against not vetting any healer, traditional or not.

@Bobbyzen well, you go to chiropractors.........I repeat, standard high school diploma and 6 month to 2 years "training", and then they are snapping your neck, where the blood vessels are tightly packed running through the spine. I now have one vestibular artery vs. the 2 most people have, as the neck-adjustments severed one.

@AnneWimsey I’m terribly sorry you found a bad chiropractor. My mother is dead from the quackery of a heart doctor who colluded—they called it consulted—with a hematologist to anesthetize her at 90 years old for an unnecessary procedure from which she never recovered. She did not have a heart condition. She was not in a life threatening situation. In fact she was living with my father in their own home, independently, living a good and happy life, socializing, pretty damned healthy for their age. The procedure was not required. Why do highly degreed professionals anesthetize the elderly when it is known that it can cause dementia or death? Could it be the doctors and hospitals that participated in my mother’s death had a profit motive? Or were they merely incompetent? At least they weren’t chiropractors, eh?

Reseach your practitioners. Many have been harmed by traditional doctors, far more than will ever be known, always question any procedure. I too have had success with chiropractic and accupuncture when traditional doctors and medicine failed me.

@Bobbyzen The chiropractor is still in business, well over 40 years now, well thought of. We sued & lost. It is not the competence of the person snapping your neck, it is the concept of sudden, whipping movement in a tiny area packed with vital brain-blood supplies....the same reason they put an immediate neck brace on anyone in a car crash, for example. Just a BAD idea, ask any neurologist.
And my condolences on your Mom, that is a very sad story!

@AnneWimsey Many (not all) board-certified doctors in all specialties eschew chiropractry as a viable practice, as well as acupuncture, homeopathy, naturopathy, cannabis, traditional healers, etc. I am neither endorsing nor recommending these, simply stating that board-certified doctors berate other disciplines—neurologists are no exception—because those alternatives threaten their livelihood and stature. The AMA protects their own. I do not hold the AMA up as an icon, given the uncounted negligent and unnecessary procedures their members perform, too frequently without consequences. Again I’m sorry for your experience. But there are too many illnesses the medical profession is unable to deal with effectively. Alternatives are available to people who seek them and are willing to put in the time to learn about them and vet providers. Shaming people into disregarding alternatives is simply bad form. We simply do not know if we are shutting them off from relief or a cure if we funnel them through AMA-only approved treatments.

@Bobbyzen or, maybe they have seen & tried to "fiix" various paraplegicvictims of chiropractic, like me & the gal using the mouth stick, just 2 from a tiny area of a tiny state, CT. Once upon a time, doctors, especially neurologists, who see this type of patient all the time, spokeout against Chiropractors snapping necks...not in general, but specifically neck-snapping, because of the very imminent threat of serious damage/death from it. The Chiropractors Assciation sued the AMA & got a gag order. Maybe you ought to find some Facts! And BTW I am a huge fan of acupuncture, andif I had lingering lower back problems might even see a chiropractor, but NO NECK SNAPPING/JERKING!

@AnneWimsey You keep holding up the AMA as an icon. The AMA supports market-based strategies, vs. patient-need based, which we know have led to America being among the worst developed nations in terms of health outcomes. The AMA opposes “regulatory ‘burdens’” including those that would force insurers to cover high-risk patients, opining that mechanisms such as high-risk pools can cover high-risk patients. This of course leaves high-risk patients out of the general insurance pool and forces them into separate plans with higher premiums, deductibles and copays. The AMA supports limits on medical liability—no explanation needed. The AMA opposes Medicare for All because it cuts insurers and for-profit hospitals out of unfettered profits. In short, the AMA has agendas that would largely protect providers and insurers at the expense of the health of the people they should be focused on.

@Bobbyzen stating Facts is most certainly Not "holding up the AMA as an icon", you are projecting! I now realize you have a major agenda that will Never result in a normal discussion. Bu-bye.

@AnneWimsey You are correct. I have an agenda to to ensure free healthcare for all and the freedom to choose providers. You also have an agenda, which appears to be the demonization of a discipline that has provided relief where traditional providers fail. Again, your experience is awful. But we don’t demonize all hospitals and all providers despite documented, horrible outcomes.

@Bobbyzen yeah, and put me & many others into wheelchairs or the grave, but, oh well.....in a situation, unlike underlying disease/pathology, driving people to a doctor, who may or may not be the right one, that was COMPLETELY AVOIDABLE. Not asking much, justst don't snap people's necks, heellooooo, after numerous, documented, horrible outcomes...and they demand the right to do so in court.

@AnneWimsey my mothers death was pure negligence. The procedure that the heart doctor and hematologist colluded to provide was not indicated or called for. She was in good health, simply aging. It was COMPLETELY AVOIDABLE. Bad outcomes from doctors and hospital visits are not always the result of someone being treated for a symptom.

1

I woke up with a stiff neck one day that bothered me too much to go to work.

I went to the nearby chiropractor.

First I got a 20 minute neck massage.

Then the chiropractor gave my neck a quick jerk, and I was good as new.

BD66 Level 8 Sep 2, 2019

The 20 minute massage was undoubtedly the reason you felt better, not the "jerk".

@Rustee you are lucky that "jerk" did not sever one of the 2 major arteries running to your brain through the spinal column, and make you a paraplegic. After my chirpractor-induced stroke, I found out is pretty common...i am one of the luckier ones, my remaining vertebral artery took over supplying both sides of my brain.
These fools have a High School diploma and 6 months on-line or maybe 2 years of "chiropractic training", and then get to call themselves "doctor"!

@AnneWimsey - It was not ME, it was BD66 who had "the jerk"!! The only persons working on my spine were radiologists, surgeons, and physical therapists! But I agree with your comments..

@Rustee huh...sorry, I thought I hit the correct "reply" button, but, obviously, nooooo Sorry!

@AnneWimsey - No problem!!

1

Going to a chiropractor for your full medical care is "stupid" as I try not to insult anyone. That said, I have had benefit from manipulations by chiropractors in the aftermath of injury and such - all diagnosed by a MD or DO. So, I can't say total B.S. I would not go for a virus, etc, which some claim they can help or cure.

2

I had brain-stem stroke at age 38 because of a chiropractor....and consider myself very lucky, there was a nurse in this area who ended up using a mouthstick from chiropractic manpulation. Much more common than you think!!!
I went exactly 8 visits, after the 6th visit I knew something was very wrong, and told him so, he continued to "adjust" my neck.....they can get a "Dctor of Chiropractic" title with just a HS diploma & 6 months of on-line!!!! They may help for lower-back problems, but NEVER, NEVER let them snap/twist/manipulate your neck. NEVER!

4

After a terrible diagnosis from an orthopedic surgeon - no range of motion and serious neck pain was why I went to see the doctor. He said I had the neck bones of a 60 year old (I was 38 at the time) and by the time I reached 60 I would need surgery if not before. I was hunched over like Quasimoto. My co-worker and friend suggested I go see her chiropractor.
He did not hype what he could do for me, said I indeed had problems from an injury in my teens BUT he worked on me for several weeks and range of motion came back, my breathing improved and there was no longer any pain or numbness. I could exercise again and the exercises he gave me specifically for my neck help to this day.
My experience was excellent. I avoid practitioners that claim they can cure everything. The best ones I have found do a bit of physio as well as manipulation.

Ah, yes, the ones who claim than can cure asthma, or whatever........

@AnneWimsey EXactly!! Those are the ones you run away from.

1

I saw a chiropractor once out of desperation about back problems. After his phony manipulations, I lost all felling in my right leg and had to undergo back surgery the next day.

4

I used to be one of their biggest detractors. Until I started seeing one years ago. I had neck pain that would not go away. After a few adjustments, it was gone!

There are pros and cons to them... I'll give you that.

1

I have mixed feelings about this. I have never tried one but my partner swears by one who treated her in Bridgeport Con. She was involved in a car accident and for months afterwards had excruciating headaches. Regular doctors were useless but a chiropractor cured the problem after manipulation of her back and neck.
There are no doubt some charlatans out there but the best are probably useful for limited back or neck problems.

1

I used to like going, apart from the strong movement of the neck side to side. The last time I went I told the chiropractor I didn’t want that done. He ignored me and I’ve never been back.

1

An inversion table is far less expensive.

And they work great. Have one that I use on those rare occasions when I have back problems.

3

They are ridiculus . Avoid .

2

Mother sent me to one to ''help'' with my terrible period cramps when I was a young teen. It did nothing but make me feel bone cracked. I've never been to one since for any reason.

1

Have only been to a Chiropractor twice. Both times because my back was out. Can't see why they could fix anything else than your back out of wack. I must say it feels a little sketchy when they are about to crack your back. I wonder what their insurance runs.

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