Common Chiropractic Misconceptions

Q:  My doctor warned me not to see a chiropractor with my condition.  Should I be worried?

A:  In my experience, the average patient who comes to the clinic in spite of the kind of warning you’ve described was warned by a practitioner who doesn’t understand what a chiropractor does.  In the medical doctor’s defense, there is a general lack of uniformity (not to be confused with validity) to chiropractic clinical protocol, such that two doctors of chiropractic in the same town may utilize entirely different techniques, and therefore establish significantly different treatment plans.  This is one reason why your chiropractor may hesitate to refer you to a chiropractor elsewhere if you decided to move, and a dilemma with which the profession continues to battle.  I will generally call ahead if I’m referring a patient to another chiropractor, but I’d like to think that your medical doctor would grant you the same courtesy within his or her profession.

A popular misconception among health care professionals is that any patient who walks into a chiropractic clinic with low back pain is going to get rolled around on a table until his or her low back makes a popping noise.  There was a time when that wasn’t altogether unlikely.  Chiropractic education has developed to the point that it would hardly be recognizable to early practitioners, and any contemporary health care provider with a Doctor of Chiropractic (DC) degree is trained and expected to provide every patient with a thorough examination.  From the examination a diagnosis is rendered; and since diagnoses differ with each patient, appropriate techniques should be applied to each individual case.

It’s no secret that there is a certain amount of historical animosity between practitioners of Western medicine (which has become synonymous with “medicine” in this country) and those of chiropractic.  Patients sometimes get caught in the middle of this name-calling and will, unfortunately, receive advice that is tainted by such sentiments.  This advice goes both ways, and generally serves to the patient’s detriment in either direction.

You may have been told to avoid chiropractic because you have osteoporosis, spondylolisthesis, disc herniation or previous surgery (to name a few).  None of these conditions preclude safe chiropractic care, though certain techniques might not be advisable.  Whatever your condition, it is your responsibility to report it to whichever health care provider you choose.  If you choose chiropractic, it is your chiropractor’s responsibility to determine if you can be treated safely and effectively, or if you need to be referred elsewhere.

 

Hugh Cradduck, DC