Health Chiropracty

[Messenger]

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wilk_v._American_Medical_Association

Chiropractors have access to Medicare in Australia. They have provider numbers and are even allowed to call themselves "doctor".

Of course Chiropractors are no strangers to the using the law in Britain either.
This article by Simon Singh was subject to libel action.

Someone should get the AMA on to this stat!!
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Iatrogenesis

The AMA don't regulate who can do what in Australia. So your local chiropractor can claim to cure bedwetting by cracking a child spine to his heart's content.

 

[woopedazz]

Here's an article attacking Chiropractic.
Written by a profeesor of pharmacolgy...from a department of Pharmocology...be interesting to see whether they get cash from drug companies...maybe I'm just cynical...and bugger me, if you couldn't find a squillion articles on drug **** ups that are "proven" safe in all sorts of studies up the wazoo and lo and behold, kids are born with no arms...

Yep, I respect your opinion and 100% agree that many drugs from previous eras were pumped out without proper testing. Now days though this argument doesn't hold much substance as the pharmaceutical companies cannot take doctors out to dinner, etc. It's unethical and can lead to revocation of your licence. Also the testing regime is better structured and goes through several stages for better redundancy.

A pharmacologist wrote that article because his understanding of medicine tells him that Chiropracty is wrong and he should do something about it. Similar to how Chiropracors write about vertebral subluxation as the cause of the common cold, etc (Because they are wrong).

Haha couldn't resist adding in that last little bit

 

[Helicopter Punt]

Having suffered from back pain for over twenty years I have yet to find a GP who would do anything more than attempt to mask the symptoms via prescription of painkillers. If this doesn't work they attempt to handball to another specialist or suggest surgery.

No I don't.
However you may ask yourself if those figures were replicated elsewhere eg Chiropractic, acupuncture, feng shui...whatever, people would be frothing at the mouth.

For back pain, I've found that most MD's I've been to don't know there arse from their elbow

Amen.

Yep, I respect your opinion and 100% agree that many drugs from previous eras were pumped out without proper testing. Now days though this argument doesn't hold much substance as the pharmaceutical companies cannot take doctors out to dinner, etc. It's unethical and can lead to revocation of your licence.

Oh really?

http://www.abc.net.au/news/stories/2008/04/30/2232048.htm

"This is actually one thing that is different in Australia and in America. In Australia the drug companies can't advertise directly to consumers, like they can here in the US," Ms Petersen said...
"They give nice gifts to physicians, even putting many of the physicians on the corporate payroll. They've made tens of thousands of doctors their paid consultants.
"They pay for fancy dinners where the doctors are educated about the newest drugs.
"To reach consumers in Australia and America with this behind-the-scenes promotion, they give grants to patient advocacy groups to help them promote a drug or promote a disease.
"They aim to put their promotional message in someone else's mouth so that it makes it more believable."
Ms Petersen has an astonishing statistic about the proportion of industry PR people to the number of doctors. Apparently, there is one sales representative for every six physicians in America.
"There's half a million drug-sponsored meetings or parties or dinners for physicians every year," she said.
"It's hundreds per day of these parties that the drug industry sponsors for physicians where the physicians are wined and dined.

http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9A0CE3DD1738F934A15755C0A9629C8B63

The check for $10,000 arrived in the mail unsolicited. The doctor who received it from the drug maker Schering-Plough said it was made out to him personally in exchange for an attached ''consulting'' agreement that required nothing other than his commitment to prescribe the company's medicines.

..and not just docs..
http://www.mindfully.org/Health/2002/Drug-Promoters-Company-Paid24aug02.htm

After learning that some celebrities who talked on its news programs about their health problems were being paid by drug companies, CNN has issued a new policy and will tell viewers about the stars' financial ties to corporations.

Also the testing regime is better structured and goes through several stages for better redundancy.

Finding evidence to the contrary is like shooting fish in a barrel:
http://www.scribd.com/doc/29403424/Hoffmann-LaRoche-Letter - one of thousands.
Google is your friend.

A pharmacologist wrote that article because his understanding of medicine tells him that Chiropracty is wrong and he should do something about it.

Would be curious as to a pharmacologists qualifications re: spinal subluxations.

For someone who makes a great deal about proof, you seem to be a little free and easy with some of your statements. Also if big pharma wasn't self serving they could save punters untold misery and fortunes by admitting that comparing their latest and greatest antibiotics to colloidal silver is like comparing a (poison) popgun to a bazooka. Shame they can't patent a natural process eh?

 

[woopedazz]

Oh really?

http://www.abc.net.au/news/stories/2008/04/30/2232048.htm
http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9A0CE3DD1738F934A15755C0A9629C8B63
..and not just docs..
http://www.mindfully.org/Health/2002/Drug-Promoters-Company-Paid24aug02.htm

Interesting articles

Finding evidence to the contrary is like shooting fish in a barrel:
http://www.scribd.com/doc/29403424/Hoffmann-LaRoche-Letter - one of thousands.
Google is your friend.

I said that testing regimes are better than they used to be and you send me a picture on scribd saying that a pharmaceutical company that took out an ad in google ads broke advertising regulations by only including the beneficial effects of their product and not the contraindications or adverse reactions. If you're going to be a little nancy boy with the google comment; go google "Marketing and Advertising Guidelines of Pharmaceuticals" and see what correlation it has to added redundancy in testing of new drugs.

Would be curious as to a pharmacologists qualifications re: spinal subluxations.

Exactly the same qualifications a Chiropractor has in regards to spinal subluxations, i.e. zero.

For someone who makes a great deal about proof, you seem to be a little free and easy with some of your statements. Also if big pharma wasn't self serving they could save punters untold misery and fortunes by admitting that comparing their latest and greatest antibiotics to colloidal silver is like comparing a (poison) popgun to a bazooka. Shame they can't patent a natural process eh?

Everyone is free and easy on forums. It's not an assignment, it's a discussion board. I will reference things I say that can be misconstrued from now on, but I'm not going to bother with the finicky stuff.

Big pharma is a business. I don't get where you're going with the Colloidal Silver bit...

 

[jacqui9]

My fitness instructor is 28 and obviously very fit.

She went to a chiropractor a few weeks ago because of back and neck aches. She figured she had just slept funny and needed re-adjusting. The chiro worked his 'magic' and off she went.

Over the next few weeks, she began to feel a tingling sensation all through the left side of her body, and eventually it spread through her head to the right side.

Turns out, the chiropractor had damaged an artery when he cracked her neck. As a result, she ended up having a stroke. She was very, very lucky not to end up in a vegetated state. She has lost some movement in the left side of her body, but with rehabilitation, should regain it eventually.

 

[BEEG]

Chiro's and Physio's are both crap

If you want real treatment go to a Remedial Massage specialist once a month and get treatment which has done me wonders i did both the Physio and Chiro for no short term effect

 

[r dub 19]

My fitness instructor is 28 and obviously very fit.

She went to a chiropractor a few weeks ago because of back and neck aches. She figured she had just slept funny and needed re-adjusting. The chiro worked his 'magic' and off she went.

Over the next few weeks, she began to feel a tingling sensation all through the left side of her body, and eventually it spread through her head to the right side.

Turns out, the chiropractor had damaged an artery when he cracked her neck. As a result, she ended up having a stroke. She was very, very lucky not to end up in a vegetated state. She has lost some movement in the left side of her body, but with rehabilitation, should regain it eventually.

Sickening.

 

[jacqui9]

I work for TAFE SA and the demand to do AM courses is massive. There are more students on the AM waiting list than there are places available. It is crazy.

The cost of AM courses is almost three times the cost of accounting or Aged Care. The government refuses to subsidise them, so TAFE can charge extremely high fees.

 

[jacqui9]

Sickening.

It was quite frightening, as she is the same age as me. She is a gorgeous person, married with four kids and her fitness business is a franchise.

Absolutely devastating. We only found out last night actually.

 

[WALL-e]

Does anyone think it's more the case of the industry being poorly regulated?

My Chiro, Physio and Myotherapist all work on preventative excercise, stretches etc. Their goal is not to see you.

It sounds as though there's a lot of rubbish Chiro's who don't try to fix a problem at its core, but just make it go away for a week so you can come back next week.

MD's aren't much better. Good for a cold etc, but I've had broken arms missed completely and misdiagnostions etc.

I recommend Myotherapy to anyone suffering ongoing issues. The guy I'm going to was able to tell me where it was hurting before I told him, then proceeded to tell me why, and how we fix it. Was also able to relate other injuries I had to current problems.

The above story is rather worrying though, sounds like she went to a horror Chiro.

 

[jacqui9]

The above story is rather worrying though, sounds like she went to a horror Chiro.

It has actually scared most of us out of ever going to a chiro again!!

 

[woopedazz]

MD's aren't much better. Good for a cold etc, but I've had broken arms missed completely and misdiagnostions etc.

Tbh that sounds like you either went to a complete moron or your arms weren't broken. For broken arms (plural) to be missed by a doctor is just...I didn't think that even happened. How did you find out they were broken afterwards? I strongly recommend changing GP's!

 

[WALL-e]

Tbh that sounds like you either went to a complete moron or your arms weren't broken. For broken arms (plural) to be missed by a doctor is just...I didn't think that even happened. How did you find out they were broken afterwards? I strongly recommend changing GP's!

Initial GP grabbed at it, said 'if it were broken, you'd be in a lot more pain'.

Thought nothing of it, had a kick ass birthday party at go-karts(got to drive like a fully sick bro with one arm hangin out the kart)/laser wars/mini golf place with ice-cream cake (think this was year 5ish, but I'd unashamedly go back now ), still hurt.

Went to a different GP, he looked at it and told me it was broken, to then prove a point he called his nurse/receptionist in as asked her what was wrong with my arm....she then said it was broken. Got a cast on it then.

I assume the GP I first went to was a nuffa. Probably my fault for changing GP's every time I see one.

 

[woopedazz]

^ Bad luck I guess. Slightly off topic I go do a enduro kart race once a year with about 30 of my good mates. Brilliant fun!

 

[TheStinger]

I've held off telling my tale because I can see most people here are dead set against the Chiro's but mine is such a good story that I can't sit back anymore.

To preface this, my Chiro is also a registered GP and his practice is not only about cracking you for 20 seconds and sending you on your way, his is a rehabilative therapy in that he wants to get you to a point where you only need to see him to get you back to normal and then only once every month or two for maintenance.

I woke up one day with a searing pain in my neck and my right arm. I could barely lift my arm to the 90 degree mark. I took some pain killers and went to the doctor. He sent me for some x-rays and it turned out I had a bulging disc in my neck and my vertebrae was pinching the nerve connected to my arm causing all the pain.

He could not do anything for it but referred me to a neurosurgeon which would take 2-3 months to see. Meanwhile, I'm in agony and unable to work. I could barely make it through the night without waking up 3 times in insane pain.

My uncle saw me one day about 2-3 weeks into this agony and told me to come with him to his chiro who had fixed his back up. I was sent for some more x-rays by the chiro and he saw the problem but could also see a cure. My neck was out of alignment and needed to be straightened back.

It's called Forward Head Position (I know, I know...all of you will be saying there's no such thing) and the explanation behind it does make sense. If you hold a 10 pound bowling ball out in front of you, your arms will hurt after a while and it gets really heavy so what do you do? You bring it into your body, a much more natural and strong position for it.

My head (the 10 pound bowling ball) was sitting to far out and was putting too much strain on my neck and needed to be pushed back into place. So after a few cracks he puts me in a "traction" machine which pulls your head back and holds it in the right position for a number of minutes.

After TWO WEEKS my pain was almost non-existent. I was seeing him three times a week for the first month, which seems excessive but the results were unbelievable. I was continuing the treatment AND able to return to work.

Meanwhile, after 3 months my appointment for the neurosurgeon came around. I decided to go even though I was feeling better just to get another opinion. He looked at my x-rays and asked if I was still in pain, because I should be. I said what I had been doing and he asked me point blank "Is it working for you?"

I said yes, I have no pain and I'm actually feeling a lot better. He said that his course of action would have been to fuse my neck giving me a limited range of movement but if this had got me back on track then to keep going and he didn't want to have to resort to surgery if he didn't have to.

I haven't been back to him since.

Now 18 months later, I have zero pain, I actually feel better than ever and am only seeing the chiro once a month. The difference I see is that the bad chiros will see you for 27 seconds, get you going good enough to make it through the next week but you will be back because they are not treating the root cause of your pain.

Good chiros treat the root cause of the pain and correct that as well as getting rid of the existing pain. They are the ones you want to go to. My treatment has been so good that my dad has started going to fix his shoulder pain and it is working for him too.

In conclusion, bad chiros are quacks and give the industry a bad name. Good chiros get results and help you to keep them.

Fire away naysayers.

 

[r dub 19]

I've held off telling my tale because I can see most people here are dead set against the Chiro's but mine is such a good story that I can't sit back anymore.

To preface this, my Chiro is also a registered GP and his practice is not only about cracking you for 20 seconds and sending you on your way, his is a rehabilative therapy in that he wants to get you to a point where you only need to see him to get you back to normal and then only once every month or two for maintenance.

I woke up one day with a searing pain in my neck and my right arm. I could barely lift my arm to the 90 degree mark. I took some pain killers and went to the doctor. He sent me for some x-rays and it turned out I had a bulging disc in my neck and my vertebrae was pinching the nerve connected to my arm causing all the pain.

He could not do anything for it but referred me to a neurosurgeon which would take 2-3 months to see. Meanwhile, I'm in agony and unable to work. I could barely make it through the night without waking up 3 times in insane pain.

My uncle saw me one day about 2-3 weeks into this agony and told me to come with him to his chiro who had fixed his back up. I was sent for some more x-rays by the chiro and he saw the problem but could also see a cure. My neck was out of alignment and needed to be straightened back.

It's called Forward Head Position (I know, I know...all of you will be saying there's no such thing) and the explanation behind it does make sense. If you hold a 10 pound bowling ball out in front of you, your arms will hurt after a while and it gets really heavy so what do you do? You bring it into your body, a much more natural and strong position for it.

My head (the 10 pound bowling ball) was sitting to far out and was putting too much strain on my neck and needed to be pushed back into place. So after a few cracks he puts me in a "traction" machine which pulls your head back and holds it in the right position for a number of minutes.

After TWO WEEKS my pain was almost non-existent. I was seeing him three times a week for the first month, which seems excessive but the results were unbelievable. I was continuing the treatment AND able to return to work.

Meanwhile, after 3 months my appointment for the neurosurgeon came around. I decided to go even though I was feeling better just to get another opinion. He looked at my x-rays and asked if I was still in pain, because I should be. I said what I had been doing and he asked me point blank "Is it working for you?"

I said yes, I have no pain and I'm actually feeling a lot better. He said that his course of action would have been to fuse my neck giving me a limited range of movement but if this had got me back on track then to keep going and he didn't want to have to resort to surgery if he didn't have to.

I haven't been back to him since.

Now 18 months later, I have zero pain, I actually feel better than ever and am only seeing the chiro once a month. The difference I see is that the bad chiros will see you for 27 seconds, get you going good enough to make it through the next week but you will be back because they are not treating the root cause of your pain.

Good chiros treat the root cause of the pain and correct that as well as getting rid of the existing pain. They are the ones you want to go to. My treatment has been so good that my dad has started going to fix his shoulder pain and it is working for him too.

In conclusion, bad chiros are quacks and give the industry a bad name. Good chiros get results and help you to keep them.

Fire away naysayers.

Brought to you by:

 

[Nothing]

I've held off telling my tale because I can see most people here are dead set against the Chiro's but mine is such a good story that I can't sit back anymore.

To preface this, my Chiro is also a registered GP and his practice is not only about cracking you for 20 seconds and sending you on your way, his is a rehabilative therapy in that he wants to get you to a point where you only need to see him to get you back to normal and then only once every month or two for maintenance.

<Story>

Good chiros treat the root cause of the pain and correct that as well as getting rid of the existing pain. They are the ones you want to go to. My treatment has been so good that my dad has started going to fix his shoulder pain and it is working for him too.

In conclusion, bad chiros are quacks and give the industry a bad name. Good chiros get results and help you to keep them.

Fire away naysayers.

Good chiros who are also GP qualified?

 

[Helicopter Punt]

Interesting articles



I said that testing regimes are better than they used to be and you send me a picture on scribd saying that a pharmaceutical company that took out an ad in google ads broke advertising regulations by only including the beneficial effects of their product and not the contraindications or adverse reactions. If you're going to be a little nancy boy with the google comment; go google "Marketing and Advertising Guidelines of Pharmaceuticals" and see what correlation it has to added redundancy in testing of new drugs.



Exactly the same qualifications a Chiropractor has in regards to spinal subluxations, i.e. zero.



Everyone is free and easy on forums. It's not an assignment, it's a discussion board. I will reference things I say that can be misconstrued from now on, but I'm not going to bother with the finicky stuff.

Big pharma is a business. I don't get where you're going with the Colloidal Silver bit...

When it comes to scamming, pharma leads chiros et al by the length of the straight - they wrote the book.

With regards to 'free and easy' I was referring to not holding MD's to the same standards as you do chiros re: proof. Reading back on my post I could have been clearer.

The scribd doc wasn't a good example admittedly (don't mind the google comment - I'm an obstreperous old prick and often kill threads with my grumpy attitude).
Perhaps this link on interferon is more apt - http://interferon.ws/. Apparently this crap has been 'trialled' - and continues to be in Australia - since I was in shorts. It continues to go through innumerable stages of testing therefore bypassing the 'better redundancy'. They can keep pumping their crap into people without 'approval' and full market release.

Tbh that sounds like you either went to a complete moron or your arms weren't broken. For broken arms (plural) to be missed by a doctor is just...I didn't think that even happened. How did you find out they were broken afterwards? I strongly recommend changing GP's!

A little more difficult to detect but I fractured my elbow two months ago. Not only did doc (emergency centre) not detect the fracture, next day when I complained about the pain and he eventually diagnosed it he forgot to tell me to remove the sling after 3/4 days. Three weeks later my regular doc tells me to remove it and my arm now will not straighten. Bugger.
No sending down thunderbolts this cricket season.

My fitness instructor is 28 and obviously very fit.

She went to a chiropractor a few weeks ago because of back and neck aches. She figured she had just slept funny and needed re-adjusting. The chiro worked his 'magic' and off she went.

Over the next few weeks, she began to feel a tingling sensation all through the left side of her body, and eventually it spread through her head to the right side.

Turns out, the chiropractor had damaged an artery when he cracked her neck. As a result, she ended up having a stroke. She was very, very lucky not to end up in a vegetated state. She has lost some movement in the left side of her body, but with rehabilitation, should regain it eventually.

That was some 'magic' he worked. Sadly there are hacks in every profession. I hope she recovers quickly.

 

[cartwright]

I'm seeing a chiro.

I've suffered with back pain (including hips) for over 7 years. No massage,physio would work.

Every time I would go to the gym Id be in pain around the hip area, thinking it was my muscles. The pain would go right down to leg to my arches of my foot.

6 weeks ago I woke up with numbness in my right hand, and tingling... it lasted for about 3 days. I went to one chiro in Melbourne who cracked my back and said I'd need 4 sessions.

I live in Sydney... found another chiro, who is more into wellness.

He asked me a series of questions (like had I ever fallen? of course!) he asked where my back was hurting and I said "all over" - no specifics

He weighed me, and I saw I carried more weight on my right side (my "sore" side). He then took digital x-rays and I saw that my spine was curved and my hips out of line.

He identified exactly where my pain areas were, without me telling him.

Since I have been having treatment, I have had minimal pain in my hips when working out, haven't had the pain in my foot at all, I sleep better, and feel better all round....

Sure there might be some dodgy chiro;s out there, but I feel so much better by seeing a chiro.

 

[prankmonkey]

you're gonna get good and bad practitioners in every profession
my problem with chiro's is some of the claims they make in advertising and the fact that they manipulate the neck without proper screen for Vertebral Basillar insufficiency (major blood vessels in the neck that lead to the brain).

i'd just say that if you were to go to any allied health practitioner, you'll know if you're at a good one if they actually sit you down for a good subjective examination and give you some preventative advice and exercises to do. its especially important for neck, knee and lower back pain

 

[woopedazz]

Now 18 months later, I have zero pain, I actually feel better than ever and am only seeing the chiro once a month. The difference I see is that the bad chiros will see you for 27 seconds, get you going good enough to make it through the next week but you will be back because they are not treating the root cause of your pain.

Good chiros treat the root cause of the pain and correct that as well as getting rid of the existing pain. They are the ones you want to go to. My treatment has been so good that my dad has started going to fix his shoulder pain and it is working for him too.

In conclusion, bad chiros are quacks and give the industry a bad name. Good chiros get results and help you to keep them.

Fire away naysayers.

You had a good outcome so it's hard to dissuade you. There really is no point in trying to change something that is working for you, even if I am skeptical.

My main problem with your story is the fact that you had an abnormal X-Ray, which was then treated with cervical traction control. Either this worked (small chance) or the inflammation around the disc was already healing and your pain would have dissipated within a few weeks anyway, much faster if you rested (I assume they told you to rest?). Either way it was not the manipulation of the spine that helped, it was the cervical traction and not the cracking that led to the results. Now Chiropractors are selling these traction devices on websites because they make money, but once a Chiropractor moves into the field of traction they are no longer practicing Chiropracty.

Chiropracty relies on the premise that there are invisible subluxations of the vertebral column that you can't see using imaging studies. It is the reorientation of the spine by cracking the back that removes these subluxations and cures you. In your case there was a clear disc pathology present and therefore Chiropractic manipulation played no part in your cure (not musculoskeletal injury nor subluxations).

EDIT: Obviously this is the view of a one-eyed anti-Chiropracty uni student and if this treatment is working for you and you are happy with it I say feel free to continue. Maybe get another X-Ray and see if the herniated disc is still inflamed.

 

[prankmonkey]

xray's dont show discs very well, extremely hard to spot discogenic signs unless it is very large. you need a CT or MRI, which IMO are useless if you get a deep and meaningful subjective examination and clear physical examination outcomes should be more than adequate in giving a clear picture of what it is and how to treat it

 

[woopedazz]

I'm seeing a chiro.

I've suffered with back pain (including hips) for over 7 years. No massage,physio would work.

Every time I would go to the gym Id be in pain around the hip area, thinking it was my muscles. The pain would go right down to leg to my arches of my foot.

6 weeks ago I woke up with numbness in my right hand, and tingling... it lasted for about 3 days. I went to one chiro in Melbourne who cracked my back and said I'd need 4 sessions.

I live in Sydney... found another chiro, who is more into wellness.

He asked me a series of questions (like had I ever fallen? of course!) he asked where my back was hurting and I said "all over" - no specifics

He weighed me, and I saw I carried more weight on my right side (my "sore" side). He then took digital x-rays and I saw that my spine was curved and my hips out of line.

He identified exactly where my pain areas were, without me telling him.

Since I have been having treatment, I have had minimal pain in my hips when working out, haven't had the pain in my foot at all, I sleep better, and feel better all round....

Sure there might be some dodgy chiro;s out there, but I feel so much better by seeing a chiro.

That's another goodnews story that is the result of a Chiropractor understanding what Scoliosis is and where the nerve roots in your spine innervate. That being said good on him/her for doing the right thing and doing an X-Ray before starting you on random spine cracking that would have made it far worse. It sounds like they are doing the right thing by you.

 

[TheStinger]

You had a good outcome so it's hard to dissuade you. There really is no point in trying to change something that is working for you, even if I am skeptical.

My main problem with your story is the fact that you had an abnormal X-Ray, which was then treated with cervical traction control. Either this worked (small chance) or the inflammation around the disc was already healing and your pain would have dissipated within a few weeks anyway, much faster if you rested (I assume they told you to rest?). Either way it was not the manipulation of the spine that helped, it was the cervical traction and not the cracking that led to the results. Now Chiropractors are selling these traction devices on websites because they make money, but once a Chiropractor moves into the field of traction they are no longer practicing Chiropracty.

Chiropracty relies on the premise that there are invisible subluxations of the vertebral column that you can't see using imaging studies. It is the reorientation of the spine by cracking the back that removes these subluxations and cures you. In your case there was a clear disc pathology present and therefore Chiropractic manipulation played no part in your cure (not musculoskeletal injury nor subluxations).

EDIT: Obviously this is the view of a one-eyed anti-Chiropracty uni student and if this treatment is working for you and you are happy with it I say feel free to continue. Maybe get another X-Ray and see if the herniated disc is still inflamed.

I have not had another MRI on the herniated disc so i am unaware of the state of it, although with the pain gone I would imagine it has restored itself adequately. What I have had though is another set of X-Rays and when compared with my originals, the difference is marked.

You say that once a chiro enters into traction he is no longer practicing chiropractics, in some way you are correct but I see this as a chiro expanding his tools to best serve his clients needs. If chiropractics works on any level and in conjunction with other therapies enables the chiro to produce results quicker, then it is the dumb chiro who does not at least investigate these methods.

As cartwright said, I too was put on the weight distribution scales and I was carrying more weight on one which combined with the visual confirmation of my spine x-rays convinced me this was indeed the case. Now after having my spine realigned, my posture, my gait, everything about me is a lot more "in line" so to speak.

As a medical student you are obviously entitled to an informed opinion but you also probably influenced by lecturers telling you that these practices are wrong and entirely unhelpful to patients.

I'm saying as a person who has been assisted by such methods that there are more than one way to skin a cat. I've found mine.

 

[lemon chicken]

Had a read through here as i just started seeing a chiro about a fortnight ago. Ive back aches and pain for ages but the main reason i went is I had developed a stabbing pain in my side which would come and go. First visit was just about diagnosis, asked a lot of questions, made me bend and stretch and put texta marks on points of my back and pushed and proded a bit. Told me there that i had a sublaxation in my lower back which was most likely causing the side pain, but sent me for x-rays before he tried to rectify anything. X-rays showed up another sublaxation in my neck and and some scoliosis in my middle back. Im no medical professional but i could easily see everything that he pointed out and vertebrae not being in a straight line. Told me nerves sending wrong messages is the main issue and that wont improve until everything is re-aligned. First 2 treatments left me in a lot of pain and weird sensation in my back but had another this morning and no real after effects at all this time. Im still a bit skeptical as to how cracking cetain places actaully re-aligns it all but the pain in my side seems to have gone. Ive been given about 3 month timeline of recovery with visits becoming less frequent as it progresses, but this is due to my injury's being a quite old and the muscles developing wrong to compensate. Im not pro-chiro or anthing but i just got to the point where i didnt want to live in pain anymore.