More Chiropractic Nonsense!!

[Physiotherapist]

I was surfing the web yesterday looking for some info and came across a Canadian chiropractic website, so I had a look to see what they were offering.

There was a 28 min long video with testimonials from people who had used chiropractic to prevent surgery and a young woman who had used it successfully following an MVA in which she had sustained a whiplash injury.

Anyway, towards the end of this video - infomercial, a chiro came on and said words to the effect that chiros are the only people who can diagnose and treat subluxations and that MD's sometimes refuse to refer patients because of this, but they should not do this and could be being misdiagnosed by an MD.

They also stated that following a whiplash injury, many people are told that the neck muscles have gone into spasm - they deny this and say that the only way to treat whiplash is to work on the spine directly using adjustments.

I have never heard anything so stupid and just plain wrong - I have had many patients with whiplash injuries and neck problems generally that I have treated successfully.

It annoys me that chiros are allowed to get away with making these claims! With mythical subluxations it is no surprise that only chiros can see them and no wonder MD's refuse to refer!

[YeahDude]

Imagine my dismay last week when I found out that my already off kilter sister in law(Homeopathy, anti-vax, etc) has been bring her 2 kids (Age 4 and 1) to a chiro and not a Pediatrician!

[Blue Wode]

...towards the end of this video - infomercial, a chiro came on and said words to the effect that chiros are the only people who can diagnose and treat subluxations...


Yes, apparently they study for years in order to become specialists in such quackery:
It is the responsibility of the Doctor of Chiropractic to locate subluxations, and reduce or correct them. This is done through a series of chiropractic adjustments specifically designed to correct the vertebral subluxations in your spine. Chiropractors are the only professionals who undergo years of training to be the experts at correcting subluxations.

http://www.united-chiropractic.org/modules/tinycontent/index.php?id=3




Interestingly, there are dozens of chiropractors in the UK who are members of the organisation linked to above, and all of them are regulated by the General Chiropractic Council which recently asserted the following in a bossy letter to a British newspaper editor:
UK chiropractors must examine, diagnose and provide care, as necessary, for each individual patient and not continue beyond the point of benefit to that patient.

They must not make exaggerated claims or mislead patients about the benefits of chiropractic.

http://www.gcc-uk.org/files/page_file/Rose%20Shapiro%20Letter%2025Jul08.pdf




For the role of UK universities in chiropractic, see here:
http://www.quackometer.net/blog/2008/08/role-of-uk-universities-in-chiropractic.html

:rolleyes:

It annoys me that chiros are allowed to get away with making these claims!


Join the club.

[casebro]

What does subluxation mean?

I parse it as lux= light, sub = below, beneath, and -ation= 'related to'. So, all together, it means "related to something invisible". Woo, by definition, eh?

[Malkuth]

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Subluxation

[JJM]

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/SubluxationYou lose credibility when you cite Wiki. The chiropractic subluxation is, simply put, a fairy tale. http://www.quackwatch.org/01QuackeryRelatedTopics/chirosub.html

The Wiki is useless, except for literature citations that can be verified and independently evaluated.

[Harpyja]

You lose credibility when you cite Wiki. ... The Wiki is useless, except for literature citations that can be verified and independently evaluated.

Evidence?

There are website citations at the bottom to double check.

[Malkuth]

I only quote the wiki (lol) for simple things like definitions of words, not for anything important.

You should direct that comment at the people who use it for evidence to support their controvertial views.

[JJM]

Evidence?

There are website citations at the bottom to double check.Did you read what I wrote?

[JJM]

I only quote the wiki (lol) for simple things like definitions of words, not for anything important.

You should direct that comment at the people who use it for evidence to support their controvertial views.The definition of "subluxation" is both important and, at least for chiros, controversial. Wiki is not a place to educate yourself.

[Subduction Zone]

I have found Wiki to be useful when it comes to mainstream science. But if there is any doubt about a topic its usefulness is dubious at best. On some of the more "woo" type topics I have followed the links and found them often to be links to other topics than claimed in the article. Or sometimes in "woo" topics the links were even more full of "woo" than the article itself.

[TheDaver]

I have found Wiki to be useful when it comes to mainstream science. But if there is any doubt about a topic its usefulness is dubious at best. On some of the more "woo" type topics I have followed the links and found them often to be links to other topics than claimed in the article. Or sometimes in "woo" topics the links were even more full of "woo" than the article itself.
I like to nuke such content when I find it. I mean, it’s not like the woo-pushers can put up a fight.

As with the general public, they count on people just plain not bothering to fact-check their crap.

[Eos of the Eons]

Double think and contradiction. Typical. Oh, and the MD bashing. More Typical. And they whine that MDs bash THEM. You won't find MDs bashing chiros at any main MD site, like the College of Physicians and Surgeons.
This nonsense will just get worse now that Goodyear (a chiro) is Canada's SCIENCE and TECHNOLOGY minister. *sob*

[Blue Wode]

I was surfing the web yesterday looking for some info and came across a Canadian chiropractic website, so I had a look to see what they were offering.

There was a 28 min long video...


Physiotherapist, perhaps you’d like to comment on these two videos:

http://jonathanhearsey.com/?p=193
(6mins 17secs - the action starts at 2mins 10secs in)

http://www.youtube.com/watch.php?v=bL-tMyiIl7I&search=adjustment
(1min 45secs)

[Physiotherapist]

Physiotherapist, perhaps you’d like to comment on these two videos:

http://jonathanhearsey.com/?p=193
(6mins 17secs - the action starts at 2mins 10secs in)

http://www.youtube.com/watch.php?v=bL-tMyiIl7I&search=adjustment
(1min 45secs)


Just watched these two video clips and am absolutely outraged by what I have seen.

What the first guy was doing was just plain dangerous all the way through. The neck manipulations were the most dangerous and with the position of the head bending that far back there is the possibility of vertebral artery dissection as opposed to just compression. Felt sorry for the elderly lady too - dread to think what kind of damage he was causing her putting all that pressure on her spine and other joints - there is a high possibility that she could have osteoarthritis/osteoporosis and so this kind of treatment is going to be counterproductive and injurious to her.

The second guy was not quite as bad as the first, but came close, but he just demonstrated that he did not know in any way what he was talking about.

When he took the measurement at the beginning he measured on the right hand side and said that the measurement was 5.5 cm. He then did the treatment or whatever useless procedures he was carrying out and measured again, but this time on the left hand side of the head and then pointed out that it was 3 cm. He then went onto say that the original measurement had been 6.5 cm - which was a mistake too. What a muppet was he? Of course there are going to be differences in the measurements on both sides of the neck depending on the state of the muscles on both sides.

He did say the only thing that I agreed with at the end that the so called adjustments that he had made would only last for about 5 to 6 hours and this is correct. I have had patients come to see me who have been to chiros and a few have said that they have had the adjustments and that they have gone straight back out again the minute they have walked out of the office and gone to get in the car.

I explain to them that the reason that this happens is because they still have the problem at the muscular level and if the short and tight muscles still exist, then any adjustment that they have had will go out again unless the muscles are worked on.

When I explain this to my patients and do work with them, they don't make the mistake of going to see a chiro ever again.

All in all, what I have seen is just plain dangerous and shows the kind of damage that chiros can do. (Surprised they don't do more in fact). Also demonstrates their complete lack of education and knowledge.

[Blue Bubble]

Physiotherapist, perhaps you’d like to comment on these two videos:

http://jonathanhearsey.com/?p=193
(6mins 17secs - the action starts at 2mins 10secs in)




I simply couldn't watch that all the way through - I felt really quite sick after the first 3 minutes. :mad: