The Practice of Chiropractics
Approximately 9+ months ago, when my rheumatologist recommended I give chiropractics a try for a long-standing back problem, I hesitantly began exploring the role of chiropractics in health care and how it might be able to help my situation.
As I began to experience some of the modalities and started talking with some of the practitioners at the facility where I was being treated, I began to feel that perhaps I may have made some hasty judgments in the past about the profession without taking the time to learn about the discipline. Just maybe I had allowed the attitudes and opinions of others to jade my thinking about the profession without giving it the respect it deserved.
Chiropractors are physicians according to the American Chiropractic Association. They require extensive educational and hands-on practical experience very similar to that of medical doctors. I think it is worth taking a look at an example of an educational comparison between chiropractics and medical curricula.
I have made a point of talking with several of the staff at the facility where I go for chiropractic care on different occasions. One chiropractor has been practicing for over 20 years. He has been continuing his education for many years - keeping up with trends and advances in research and technology. He loves what he does and it shows. His patients call him by name and the rapport he has with them is warm and personable. Not only is his knowledge cutting-edge, his skill-level is sharp. I am comfortable with his care. His colleagues share his enthusiasm. They all enjoy learning and growing professionally and they all seem to enjoy their own special area of interest within the profession which brings a wealth of knowledge to share amongst them all.
It is safe to say that there are circumstances where this may or may not be the right approach to a particular problem. Just like in some cases surgery or acupuncture or any other type of approach may or may not be the right answer to a problem. There is no single right or wrong way to approach any given situation. Chiropractor physicians should be treated with as much respect as any other physician or disciplinary member of the health care team.
Related Topics: Technorati Tags: chiropractor, back pain, pain relief, health and wellness
As I began to experience some of the modalities and started talking with some of the practitioners at the facility where I was being treated, I began to feel that perhaps I may have made some hasty judgments in the past about the profession without taking the time to learn about the discipline. Just maybe I had allowed the attitudes and opinions of others to jade my thinking about the profession without giving it the respect it deserved.
Chiropractors are physicians according to the American Chiropractic Association. They require extensive educational and hands-on practical experience very similar to that of medical doctors. I think it is worth taking a look at an example of an educational comparison between chiropractics and medical curricula.
I have made a point of talking with several of the staff at the facility where I go for chiropractic care on different occasions. One chiropractor has been practicing for over 20 years. He has been continuing his education for many years - keeping up with trends and advances in research and technology. He loves what he does and it shows. His patients call him by name and the rapport he has with them is warm and personable. Not only is his knowledge cutting-edge, his skill-level is sharp. I am comfortable with his care. His colleagues share his enthusiasm. They all enjoy learning and growing professionally and they all seem to enjoy their own special area of interest within the profession which brings a wealth of knowledge to share amongst them all.
It is safe to say that there are circumstances where this may or may not be the right approach to a particular problem. Just like in some cases surgery or acupuncture or any other type of approach may or may not be the right answer to a problem. There is no single right or wrong way to approach any given situation. Chiropractor physicians should be treated with as much respect as any other physician or disciplinary member of the health care team.
Related Topics: Technorati Tags: chiropractor, back pain, pain relief, health and wellness
16 Comments:
I have had care by these Doctors over the last 35 years at different times. Did you know that they don't have to be inoculated when going out of the country. Many of them go into trying to cure people with vitamins and who knows what else. One of them put me into acidosis so bad I could have died. They can cause a stroke by twisting your neck. On the whole they did more harm than good.
If they did so much harm, why do you continue to go to them? I have been seeing chiropractors for 30 years and thank God for them every day. They have taught me various things I can do for my own health, as well as doing manipulations and therapy to help keep me pain free in my old age. And I would rather take the proper vitamins instead of drugs which do nothing to correct any problem you may have. I only wish the MD's would treat the cause of some conditions with something besides drugs. Call me very satisfied.
Please do NOT compare a chiropractic education to that of a Medical Doctor or a Doctor of Oesteopathy, as the latter have a have a BS, BA, Or equivelent before entering FOUR years of basic medical education, after which they do a 3 to 5 year residency in a speciaty field of medicine. Chiropractors are used as Physical Therapists, who are better educated than the chiropractor. Their place in medicine is PHYSICAL THERAPY !!!
I happen to agree with treating them with respect. There are many different aspects of the medical community and everyone working together is a beautiful thing. My chiropractor was awesome. He did what my medical doctor could not or did not have to time to do....and they worked together. My daughter has spastic quadralplegic(excuse my spelling) cerebral palsy and has been doing therapy for 12 years now so I love therapists as well, but personally I'll stick with my chiropractor when it comes to my back! My doctor hands me a script for my NSAID and my chiropractor aligns my back and if that keeps me off pain pills and out of pain then I don't really give a hoot if my chiropractor is a medical doctor. All I'm interested in is, does he have a degree, are there any complaints or has he or she been sued. I too had a wrong impression about chiropractors and was amazed and relieved when I met mine. Keep in mind that there are "terrible" docotrs as well as "terrible" therapists and "terrible chiropractors. I prefer the ones who listen. That's all.
I had just went to the chiropractor for the first time today!!! I'm so excited about the things I've learned that other doctors either don't care or don't have the time to explain. The main thing I hate is if you have a pain somewhere and go to the Md they will see you for about 10 mins make up their own diagnois and give you a drug for it, not even knowing if thats the true problem. My chiropracter spent time with me going over everysing one of my aches and pains to get down to the real problem to give me a REAL solution! All drugs do is hide the problem how can that make anything better ever!? I'll have to admit though I only got adjusted once so far and I already know so much, but i am scared to go back because of the whole twisting of the neck thing... It didn't hurt one bit but just made me very nervous...I'll continue to pray that this is the right choice and that my doctor knows exactly what hes doing...all though I have the upright most respect and trust in him. Accidents do happen but it seems MORE happen with medical malpractice in the MD world...
I'm glad that Dr. Cox is retired. Her comments reflect an obsolete and completely misinformed generation of doctors that left America in the health crisis it is now.
Please do due diligence when selecting a Chiro or any type of physician, but for your own sake, take a MD opinion with a grain of salt.
I'm not trying to argue with Dr. Cox, but I do feel that she is misleading people by inferring that chiropractors do not have to even have a bachelors degree. At one point in time that was a true statement, but is no longer the case. Almost all states require a bachelors degree along with a Doctorate of Chiropractic in order for chiropractors to acquire licensure to practice. Chiropractors are highly educated health care providers. The education is strikingly similar to medical curriculum with some very important differences which make the field unique. If they were exactly the same the world would not be able to benefit from the useful benefits that chiropractics can offer because they would all be script dependent physicians.
Loren Cox is a typical MD, egotistical and haughty. It's a good thing she/he is retired! I didn't come here to flame or bash anyone but her/his comments were very inflammatory.
My chiropractic DOCTOR has helped ease the pain of fibromyalgia when no one else could. She does not rush, is very kind and shows no signs of egomania or demi-god status. Thank God I've found her!
MSL
Tell me Dr. Cox why do MDs, DOs, DPMs, DDSs, DMDs and DCs use the same BOOKS for their classes? Yet your education is better than mine, WAKE UP!!!!
I am ALWAYS happy when someone outside tells me what it is a do for a living. The truth is that if people KNOW the truth then the medical system as we know it would DIE tomorrow. The entire idea of CHIROPRACTIC is based on the NERVOUS system. The system that Grant's text book of Anatomy states," ...this is the system that CONTROLS ALL other systems...".
So please for the many that do find relief with Chiropractic let them be. We are NOT stopping you from going and getting "drugged up". As it was said "If all the drugs in the world were put into the Seas it would be a bad day for the fish, and a great day for man"
Think about that.
I am a practicing chiropractor of 14 years. A medical colleague asked me if I had ever had a patient suffer a stroke after adjusting their neck? I responded by saying it has never happened in my practice, nor has it happened to any chiropractic doctor I have ever met in my 14 years. The MD said how curious it is that he has never seen the phenomena in his 20 + years practicing. With all the press on the subject, you'd think the prevalence of such matters would lead the public to think it was so common, yet so very rare.
I too was a little concerned about the whole stroke thing but I did some research online and was pleasantly surprised. As often as you see an article about the risk of stroke as a result of cervical manipulation you would think it was a fairly common event. Studies say differently. In fact, one study stated the likelehood of arterial dissection following cervical manipulation is approximately 1 in 5.85 million. On the other hand, I also read in an article in JAMA that said NSAIDs such as aspirin kill 7600 people per year. Reactions to prescription drugs kill 32,000 people per year! According to these stats it is much safer to see a chiropractor than to take medication for mechanical neck pain.
I agree with all of you regarding Dr. Cox's remarks. He/she need to wake up and visit a Chiropractic college, maybe he / she can since retired. Its that preception that is very comical, I have been in private practice for 12 yrs, couldnt imagine doing anything else. We love most all our patients and I find myself explaining to patients daily as to why Im not part of the medical boys club. Because I have chose not to be. I was accepted to 3 medical schools after undergrad and chose a proffession for the compassion and caring side of care. I dont want to be in the medical boys club. I would also like to thank all the great and positive feed back you all have given.
Unfortunately Dr. Cox and I use the term Dr. generously, is grossly misinformed and hasn,t a clue regarding what Chiropractic is. As has been already stated in previous postings,it is essential to make sure you are going to a compassionate and qualified doctor whether they are Chiropractors, Osteopaths or Medical Doctors. I can tell you that a good Chiropractor can be extremely effective in treating the majority on non-surgical back, neck and other musculoskeletal type problems. In addition, these type doctors are typically very well versed and educated regarding many holistic (more natural) type therapies to help their patients in regaining health. It is long overdue for the medical monoply of profiting from over prescribing drugs and surgery for back pain and other musculoskeletal problems be exposed. It would appear quite obvious that a patient seeking care for one of the most common ailments that afflicts human beings( back pain) be treated in the most conservative and frequently the most effective method available which is chiropractic by a competent Doctor of Chiropractic. A wise idea to find a competent Chiropractor in your community is to check with several friends or co-workers and to check with insurance carriers as the Chiropractic Physicians on their pannels have all been credentialed and screened thoroughly.
An additional comment regarding efficacy of Chiropractic for headaches is that it is well documented in evidence based clinical controlled studies that chiropractic treatment is effective for treating the most common type of headache. It is also considered extremely [emphasis added] safe. One can be not only assured by the scientific studies but by the statistics. Also telling is that malpractice rates for Chiropractic Physicians is the lowest of all physicians.Medical Doctors and Osteopathic Physicians typically pay well in excess of $100,000. per year for their insurance while Chiropractic Physicians typically pay less than $ 3,000. I hope this information has been helpful.
I have severe right hip pain with pain going down my right leg. I also have numbness in that leg at times. I made one visit to a chiropractic and I love it! He did x-rays and explained what is happening to me. He is re-aligning my right hip. He explained that the muscles are so tight that my pain is actually muscle spasms. The numbness is coming from the sciatic nerve.
After one visit, I feel so much less pain. I will definitely go back!
THE TRUTH IS OUT THERE!!! www.youtube.com type in chiropractic and high blood pressure or chiropractic and Montel Williams. DCs have been around 100+ years and are just getting noticed. Make your own choice! STAY HEALTHY AND BE SAFE!
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