Is chiropractic nonsense?

tvc15 · 18-12-2012 9:01am #1

In response to this thread:

http://touch.boards.ie/thread/2056834158?page=1

On homeopathy where the consensus was it's bull, i am wondering what the boards consensus is on another branch of pseudo medical care is? The reason I ask is that homeopathy is often ridiculed as obviously nonsense but chiropractic is a lot more widely accepted despite the same evidence problems

MadsL · 18-12-2012 9:11am

tvc15 wrote: »

In response to this thread:

http://touch.boards.ie/thread/2056834158?page=1

On homeopathy where the consensus was it's bull, i am wondering what the boards consensus is on another branch of pseudo medical care is? The reason I ask is that homeopathy is often ridiculed as obviously nonsense but chiropractic is a lot more widely accepted despite the same evidence problems

I get great relief from Oesteopathic treatment - crack your back realignment type of thing. I have a dodgy back from landing on my feet after a 40 ft rock climbing fall.

I once made the mistake of visiting a chiropracter. He bashed me with his "€25,000" bench and it's mechanical sections, made my back pain worse and then said I needed a course of about 16 treaments at €60 each. I never went back, instead found a beefy Aussie oesteopath to click everything back into alignment again.

planetX · 18-12-2012 9:13am

yes.
It's also a cult, I've heard of one where the patients are sat down to watch videos about their new faith.

kylith · 18-12-2012 9:14am

It does have benefits, but they're nothing like some chiropracters claim. Some will claim it as a cure for various illnesses, which it isn't, and some practise on children, for which they should be flogged; messing about with children's developing spines can cause damage.

tvc15 · 18-12-2012 9:17am

MadsL wrote: »

I get great relief from Oesteopathic treatment - crack your back realignment type of thing. I have a dodgy back from landing on my feet after a 40 ft rock climbing fall.

I once made the mistake of visiting a chiropracter. He bashed me with his "€25,000" bench and it's mechanical sections, made my back pain worse and then said I needed a course of about 16 treaments at €60 each. I never went back, instead found a beefy Aussie oesteopath to click everything back into alignment again.

Don't get me wrong, it does provide some pain relief but its not proven to be any better than ibuprofen but it is certainly not proven to align your spine or that alignment of your spine is necessary in all cases

stimpson · 18-12-2012 9:18am

You can tell when youve gone to a good chiropractor when they offer you a happy ending.

Canis Lupus · 18-12-2012 9:19am

It's rubbish. Look up its origins. It's another branch of quackery that has managed to gain credence with the masses.

Bobeagleburger · 18-12-2012 9:19am

If you have back pain some of these guys can make your back worse.

Physio is a better option for lot of people.

mickstupp · 18-12-2012 9:55am

Maybe it's a placebo... but I can walk straight upright now and I couldn't before. Painkillers don't work for me and the chiropractor I saw did whatever she did and I stopped being in pain 24/7. Also stopped having headaches every day. Don't really care if the science is sound. Or if there is any science.

Mind you, last time I was there was almost 10 years ago, maybe things have gotten much worse since then? Heard plenty of horror stories, even from people I personally know well, in person, not just blue names on a computer screen. Your mileage may vary, I suppose.

In saying that... looking back, the chiropractor really only sorted my immediate issues. Didn't help me in the long run. Pain disappeared for a short while but my body was in no position to support itself. I have since come to understand that a proper physio is a much better option. The physio I saw once upon a time didn't give the instant relief the chiropractor did, so I stopped going, but the aim was long term health and improving muscle stability etc. which the physio can help with. I don't think the chiropractor does. Instant pain relief was great, but I think nowadays I'd go for the long term approach.

I wouldn't say it's nonsense, I'd say it has its uses but certainly isn't a long term fix.

Anita Blow · 18-12-2012 10:40am

I don't doubt some people get a placebo effect from it, but that's all it is. And the problem with that is that it treats the symptoms but not the problem so the person finds their self regularly going back to the chiropractor to treat their pain but not the underlying cause.

The whole concept that your spine can be "misaligned" is ridiculous. You could get smashed by a lorry and your spine would still stay in alignment.

Akrasia · 18-12-2012 10:43am

How many people with bad backs get family members to walk on them while they're lying on the floor.

There is just as much medical science involved in asking a 2 year old to jump up and down on your spine as there is going to a chiropractor

It'll make you feel better for a while but you don't ever diagnose the actual cause of your back pain and you may be doing long term damage.

Akrasia · 18-12-2012 11:10am

Alternative medicine relies on the psychological misinterpretation of a statistical feature known as regresison towards the mean.

When you have a chronic condition your symptoms will often go through periods where they are more severe, and then periods where they are less severe or even absent.

It is when the symptoms are at their worst, that people will go to seek treatment. Then, when the symptoms naturally subside, they will naturally assume that the treatment caused the remission, when in reality, the remission was just a part of the normal cycle of good and bad spells.

The Human body will often repair itself over time. I had a injury to my collar bone that was quite painful for years. I never sought any treatment for the injury and now there is no pain at all. If I had chosen to go to an alternative medicine practice, I could very easily attribute the natural healing of the injury to whatever 'alternative' treatment I had been receiving.

big_joe_joyce · 18-12-2012 9:22pm

its much worse than that , its often dangerous

i have ware and tare on my lumber spine thanks to a con artist ( chiropractor ), guy told me i had a twisted spine the first day i met him , this despite the fact that several radiographers who viewed xrays and mri,s had discovered no such evidence , anyone ive ever spoken to who has visited one has also been told they have a twisted spine

chiropractic is completley self regulating in this country , their is no goverment agency which regulates and provides oversight , also , a chiropractor has no legitimite right to refer to themselves as a doctor in this country , they might have in the usa where chiropractic can be studied in goverment aprooved institutions but they have no more right to label themselves a doctor than a butcher or a plumber

Boombastic · 18-12-2012 9:34pm

It's in the the same class as the stick needles in to your face and smell this school of medicine

Nodin · 18-12-2012 9:40pm

Boombastic wrote: »

It's in the the same class as the stick needles in to your face and smell this school of medicine

...I was at a party like that once....

Is chiropractic nonsense?

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