Chiropractic - what the smeg IS it, exactly?

SixSixSix

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Chiropractic appears to be the "skeptics choice of alternative medicine" - in that many people who will happily agree that homeopathy, faith healing, and so forth are bollocks, but swear by chiropractic.

It has apparently been pretty thoroughly discredited. Fair enough. But forgive the n00b question - what is it, exactly? I have looked at the top few google searches, and they typically describe it as what sounds like essentially massaging your spine if it gets twisted, or a disc is slipped, or something, in the attempt to realign it.

I'm not saying that it works, of course - I have no idea, never had any back problems - but I will say that the above description sounds plausible, and certainly devoid of the usual "woo-woo" content. Which leads me to believe that this description is in fact misleading or outright falsehood.

Anyone want to shed some light? Pro- or anti- is fine; I'm just interested in information. Appropriate hyperlinks would be cool; don't want to waste anyone's time.
 
This is what I get through www.medlineplus.gov (try that before google for medical information):
http://www.nlm.nih.gov/medlineplus/chiropractic.html

This is all the questions you would want to know, by a chiropractor:
http://www.chirobase.org/17QA/index.html

Always ask what a "subluxation" is... http://www.chirobase.org/01General/chirosub.html

There is a pretty good wiki on it:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chiropractic_medicine

ALSO, and this is great... check out the Scientific American Frontiers program on alternative medicine. There was a whole section on chiropracty. They also have links to videos:
http://www.pbs.org/saf/1210/index.html

Long story short: They are okay for lower back pain, but cannot cure infections. Keep them away from your neck.
 
I'm hesitating. I think there may be some elements of it which cross into the physiotherapy area, which I have more of an understanding and experience of.

But I always remember one friend recommending it for my neck but when I saw my GP about it, they immediately said 'no way' and sent me to the physio.

And there's a lady at my work who visits a chiro every month... and didn't have an answer for me when I asked if it had to be done so often, had she checked with her GP about it being an ongoing situation and wouldn't it be better getting some permanent treatment / be fixed by now?
 
Re: subluxations, it comes the Latin words meaning “to dislocate” (luxare) and “somewhat or slightly” (sub), so I guess it would be considered a partial dislocation.
 
Hmmmmmm.

There are some 'white hats' out there that acknowledge what can and cannot be done. One of them was on P&T's show a while back.

I had a chiro work on my neck once. I had sprained it while wrestling. Did a good job, as well, for far less money and pain than wearing what the doctors wanted me to. But, then again, I knew this guy, too. He was just as disgusted with his own field and what some people would try to do as any of us would have been. No talk of subluxation or acupuncture in his office! He just carefully manipulated the bones back into the correct alignment.

But I wouldn't recommend going to a chiro without researching him first, and do NOT let him/her touch you if you don't feel comfortable.
 
Chiropractic in layman's terms.

It's absolute nonsense.

I really don't think that it's the "skeptics choice of alternative medicine". At least not for those skeptics who've looked into it.
 
Erm.

I ought to add: Chiros are for BACK PROBLEMS! Don't go to one for your cancer. Lower back pain? Well, maybe.

Understanding the limits of what can be done is a hallmark of a guy who is probably not too shabby. But if you get ahold of a guy who can cure everything from halitosis to hangnail, then you probably need to shop elsewhere.
 
Depends on who you talk to. I now of at least one, personally, that claims to be able to help with back and spine problems. Anything else, he says isn't well supported by the evidence.

*shrug*

I hate to stereotype as a group, is all. But yeah, I'd say the mainstay of chiros are into some really dumb stuff.
 
As a sometimes chronic lower back out-of-whack sufferer, I think that practical 'back' readjustment may be a proper protocol when it is the correct procedure for realignment.

But these ideas of subluxations and so forth are pure, P&T terms, BS.

If the practitioner's idea is to realign bones, muscle, and ligaments in order to alleviate pain and discomfort, then there might be some backing (no puns there). But if they start talking about realigning Chakras or improving your health through regular chiropracy - avoid, avoid, avoid.

Human spinal columns are an evolutionary peculiarity. Few species have evolved for bipedal motion and fewer still for continuous bipedal 'engagement' with vertical spinal columns. This might explain the problems of a previously quadrapedal system being adapted for constant bipedal stance and motion. Even after many hundreds of thousands of years, homo (human-like primates) has not gained a stable vertical spinal column.

So I'll allow for the massage and tweak, but not for the neck jerks (fatal on rare occassions) and idea that you are cured of anything more than spinal stresses.
 
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SixSixSix said:
Chiropractic appears to be the "skeptics choice of alternative medicine" - in that many people who will happily agree that homeopathy, faith healing, and so forth are bollocks, but swear by chiropractic.

It has apparently been pretty thoroughly discredited. Fair enough. But forgive the n00b question - what is it, exactly?
Click to expand...
To get to the short of the long of it, chiropractics believe that adjustments to the spine can cure all disease and ailments. It's all subluxations. It gets to about the same point as aligning chakras.

The reason you may think that chiropractic is the "skeptics choice of alternative medicine" is because many (not all) chiropratics have very good knowledge of the spine and can correct some back problems nearly as well as a real doctor. If you have a back problem that can be fixed by a spinal adjustment, a chiropraticor may be able to do the job just as well as a doctor.

So, chiropractic is complete woo-woo, but it is based on real physical adjustments that sometimes can incedentally cure real physical ailments. Of course a real physical physician could do the same thing with better precision and none of the woo-woo.

Chiropractics just happen to do something that, as a sort of side effect, happens to be medically beneficial.
 
My own experience with a neck problem exactly echoes that of Clarsct.
The Chiro who did manipulation was as businesslike as any doctor or dentist I ever met, talked no nonsense, never mentioned subluxations and fixed a problem (or enabled me to break a cycle of problems) which had resisted years of treatment with anti-inflammatories.
Like Kiless, I think spinal manipulation overlaps with more accepted treatment like physiotherapy. There may be a lot of associated nonsense, but ask any honest physio and you'll hear a lot of nonsense too.

Added caveat- If manipulation can fix a problem, it should do it in a finite time. There are likely to be associated muscle spasm and postural problems. Breaking the cycle should not require ongoing treatment. If a course of treatment is projected to take more than three or four visits, you should be asking if this is the correct modality for the problem.
 
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My "specialty" as a skeptic is chiroquackery. As a Physical Therapist I can understand what they are doing, and what kind of nonsense that is also involved. Here are some of my chiro resources:

Chirobase
http://www.chirobase.org/

Chirotalk
http://chirotalk.proboards3.com/index.cgi

ChiroLinks
http://chirolinks.quackfiles.com

Chiropractic Index
http://quackfiles.blogspot.com/2006/12/chiropractic-index-to-all-entries-here.html

Paul's Chiropractic Resources
http://chirotalk.proboards3.com/index.cgi?board=purpose&action=display&thread=1084741608



Regards,

Paul Lee, PT

The Quack-Files - http://www.quackfiles.com
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Confessions of a Quackbuster - http://quackfiles.blogspot.com/
The Saul Green Files - http://saulgreen.blogspot.com/
Healthfraud Discussion List - http://www.quackwatch.org/00AboutQuackwatch/discuss.html
Physiotalk - http://physiotalk.ca/index.php?act=idx
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Eva Cassidy: Legendary Singer - http://evacassidy.blogspot.com/
The Art of Elfred Lee - http://www.geocities.com/elfred_lee/
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I think the missing distinction here is "chiropractic" versus "chiropractic medicine." Some chiros just help your neck and back after an auto accident or something, and they are probably fine (I don't know really). It's the ones who do claim to be able to solve any/every health problem by fixing subluxations, who are definitely woo-woos you need to stay the heck away from.
 
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