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
The issue with chiropractic medicine is that there are truths and assumptions tied to it. Medicine in general has a very rigorous process to support the efficacy and validity of claims. Chiropractic medicine has some of the rigorous research supporting some of its claims.
The issue arises with the numerous amount of claims that are at best conjectures that do not go through the proper processes. This is why many claim it be to junk medicine due, i susbcribe to it being borderline pseudo science.
Because of some of its validity and lobbing is why insurance can cover it sometimes. Keep in mind insurance companies often times deny necessary medicine or procedures saying it is optional. So insurance companies are not a good source for what or what is not good medicine.
Part of the reason: chiropractic treatment *does* have some legitimate medical uses. They are pretty specific, mostly related to pain relief, and chiropracty would probably be best characterized as a sub-practice of physical therapy.
The part that makes it junk medicine is thinking it can treat *everything*. Your baby does not need a chiropractor because they have teething pain. Chiropracty will not treat your cancer. It won’t cure COVID. It isn’t a replacement for surgery, or diet and exercise.
It won’t do anything except help treat certain kinds of joint and muscle pain. If you’re using it for that kind of treatment under the care of a physical therapist, it’s probably actually doing something.
And that makes it hard to refuse to cover it, since the insurance company can’t know whether your use is correct or not.
Most successful chiros these days employ a blend of PT, stretching, mobility work, massage and chiropractics – it’s often this combo that makes people feel better.
There is a good episode of the podcast Behind the Bastards that covers the history of holistic medicine and chiropractics. tl;dr: dude claimed to cure a deaf man by adjusting his spine, then claims to be able to cure pretty much anything.
People who go lack critical thinking abilities, they don’t follow evidence and process based practises.
Ask if it is junk medicine to a doctor, pharmacist, and then a human biologist. Answers are very different.
The fact its covered on insurance is to meet demands of customers.
Stress builds in our bodies, if it is not released or addressed, it WILL start causing problems eventually.
Never underestimate the power of a good placebo. The relief is real.
Of course, I tell people I’ve had to switch to a stronger placebo.
Same reason you can take super pills and feel better, if you believe it works its quite common you’ll feel like it is despite there being zero scientific backing for chiropractics in any way. Its not just referred to as a junk science its a full blown pseudoscience.
Because a fool and his money are easily parted. People will pay out of pocket for chiropractic adjustments because chiros make a good sales pitch and some folks like the idea of weekly appointments with no end date more than weekly PT appointments for a few months plus daily exercises. Some insurance providers will cover it because offering coverage for alternative therapies can differentiate them in a saturated market and might help win business from their competitors.
My knuckles feel good when I crack them and my body feels good when a chiropractor cracks my back and neck bones. Plus it’s pretty cheap.
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