I know so many people to go to a chiropractor on a weekly basis and either pay out of pocket or have benefits cover it BUT I seen articles or posts pop up that refer to it as junk junk medicine and on the same level as a holistic practitioner???
In: Biology
To quote Wikipedia:
> D. D. Palmer founded chiropractic in the 1890s, after saying he received it from “the other world”; Palmer maintained that the tenets of chiropractic were passed along to him by a doctor who had died 50 years previously.
Chiropractics is not based on real science – the foundational principles behind it (“vertebral subluxation”) are nonsense. Systematic reviews and studies on chiropractics consistently find no evidence of it working beyond a placebo effect (outside some treatments for lower back pain). There is also some evidence that it is dangerous.
But the placebo effect is really powerful. Chiropractic “treatments” can make people feel better, the same as any placebo treatment, so chiropractics appears to work in a limited way. It is also cheap – in part due to not having to involve actual medicine, medical research or medical training/professionals. This can make it a cost-effective “treatment” in some situations. Plus there is a bunch of politics around it; fake medicines always have a certain appeal to them, promising easy cures to problems that actual medicine cannot fix but can only manage.
People enjoy many things, and are willing to pay for them. I have a friend who gets a massage every Friday afternoon, and is certain that it improves his flexibility and mood. It’s working for him.
However, that’s quite different than someone who goes to a physical therapist every week to work on maintaining their range of motion in spite of their arthritis. That’s an evidence based medical treatment performed by a licensed clinician.
The term “holistic” has been taken up by a bunch of quacks that are not practicing evidence based medicine. I have a PhD, so in some context I’m a “doctor”. But I’m always clear that I’m not a medical doctor, and generally don’t use the prefix outside scientific papers. Chiropractors are not medical doctors either, and some tend to use the “Dr. Smith” naming convention in a potentially misleading way.
it does work. the total cure is a “temporary relief of minor back pain”
if that is what you are looking for, you found it.
by the way, you can crack your own back, for this very limited gain.
For the people that are getting it covered by insurance, are you sure you’re not mixing chiropractors up with physical therapists? I know that at least some people mistakenly refer to physical therapists as chiropractors.
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It’s often relatively affordable and easier to access than more regulated/evidence-based forms of physical therapy. And insurance often covers it, which is ridiculous. An unfortunate byproduct of our U.S. healthcare system and how hard it is to get good, quality care. The main issue with chiropractic “medicine” is that it’s woefully unregulated. You might get a practitioner who is giving you a glorified massage and it’s quite harmless. Or you might get someone who wrenches your neck so hard that your ~~aorta~~ vertebral arteries are damaged or you are left with paralysis. Happens more often than you might think. But it FEELS like something, and a lot of people get frustrated with how slow and “trial/error” allopathic (evidence-based) medicine can be. Chiropractics, like a lot of pseudoscience, makes bold promises and this is very appealing to people who are desperate for a quick fix. I get it, I have awful migraines and would LOVE a quick fix. But it’s not worth the risk.
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It gets covered by insurance because chiropractors have successfully lobbied for it be covered by insurance and there are people who want insurance that covers it.
That doesn’t make it legitimate.
The VA (Veterans Administration) believes in chiropractic therapy. Practitioners do the equivalent of medical school. Decades ago, I went to one (recommended) out of desperation — my hand/arm would go numb playing guitar. I got a Biology/Chemistry degree… and I “tech’d him out.” The guy was sharp AF. He explained the problem and said that I’d likely need 3 visits. He told me that he’d do a quick “adjustment” to get me out of pain. That was 30 years ago… and because I was poor, I didn’t go back (only 1 visit). The problem has never recurred.
I recently started to go for therapy (paid by the VA) for my neck — and saw massive relief in only two sessions.
Just as there are sh1t MDs, I’m sure that there are cr*ppy chiropractors. That said… they are not quacks. There are scientific underpinnings to what they do. They use x-rays and other tests.
You do you… but they’ve helped me.
Also, it really depends on the chiropractor. The one I’ve gone to a few times does the exact same procedures my physical therapist does at the start of my session, though lacks the exercise component. Helps loosen me up in order for my body to heal. He has a degree in sports medicine, but legally practices as a chiropractor. He didn’t do any of the more aggressive potentially damaging adjustments. Way easier to get an appointment. I prefer to go to the physical therapist, but insurance gives me more hassles about the physical therapy than about the chiro. Shrugs.
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