this post was submitted on 02 Jun 2024
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[–] [email protected] 188 points 1 month ago (14 children)

Doctor: I have consulted decades of scientific literature to diagnose your ailment and provide a treatment plan based on humanity's continually improving understanding of the biochemical workings of our bodies.

Chiropractor: I have consulted a book written by D. D. Palmer in 1895 who was a magnetic healer, anti-vaccine, and anti-medicine. He says you have ghosts in your bones and it's messing with your natural healing powers. I'm gonna crack your back now. Yes I'm a doctor. Well not a doctor doctor, but you know.

[–] CitizenKong 47 points 1 month ago (1 children)

I went to doctor school, one of the best in the country it was in!

[–] [email protected] 7 points 1 month ago (1 children)

You graduated in the top 100% of your class?

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[–] something_random_tho 22 points 1 month ago

Not the medical kind...

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[–] [email protected] 120 points 1 month ago* (last edited 1 month ago) (1 children)

As a nurse I can do pretty much everything a chiropractor can that's not horribly unsafe and unproven. I can advise on diet, exercise and herbal supplements, I can massage muscles and help someone stretch through range of motion. I even know how to use a fucking TENS/EMS device, and I could probably get certified in acupuncture if I wanted. The only thing I don't do that a chiropractor does is sever spines and snap necks, and if that's all they managed to learn with all that extra school they can keep it, lol.

TLDR; all the "doctor" shit they do is actually nurse shit and everything else is assault and battery.

[–] xhieron 50 points 1 month ago (1 children)

Thank you. I've had this conversation with family members way too often. They love their local chiropractor. They always leave feeling so much better, etc. I ask them what he does, what his advice is, and what kinds of questions he asks them, and everything they describe is not chiropractic. It's massage, or nursing, or physician. No wonder you love him: He's practicing medicine.

[–] [email protected] 14 points 1 month ago (2 children)

He's practicing medicine.

What a heretic

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[–] [email protected] 61 points 1 month ago (10 children)

Gonna be completely honest: a chiropractor saved my life.

I experienced an injury and literally couldn't walk for 3 months. Three doctors kept ignoring my pain and thought I was exaggerating. They kept treating me like a drug-seeker and I couldn't afford more visits due to be uninsured & now unable to work. They also would not refer me to a physio/physical therapist without more appointments and several expensive tests.

A chiropractor gave me an initial "adjustment" and I was finally able to hobble for a few minutes without collapsing. But I could not afford more appointments.

The pain and anguish went on for over 2 years. I was literally on the verge of killing myself by the end of it.

Finally.. my dear mother referred me to another chiropractor and offered to pay for a few appointments. I was at the point of ending it anyway, so I figured "why not?"

I went in, the guy took x-rays, and informed me that one of my vertebrae was lodged in my pelvis, pinching so many nerves, he was surprised I was even standing. He said he'd see me again to assess me, then the third appointment he would hopefully be able to help.

To keep this from being any longer, he fucking fixed it. Over 2 years of near unbearable pain, and he cured it. I could walk upright. I could reach upward. I could reach the floor. I could hug my kid again.

He then told me to come back at least 3 times per week to keep everything in shape and I was like "lol no". To be fair, I did 3 more appointments to make sure this wasn't a fluke, but after that, I researched everything with a mind clear of pain and figured out how to heal and maintain.

Am I stupid for going to a chiropractor? No. I was poor. I was desperate. Did it help? Yes. Would I recommend them to others? Fuck no. They're predatory in the way they maintain their "patients". Swear to god, I'm pretty sure he tried to fuck something up in my shoulder to get me to return later.

But don't blame all folks who go to chiropractors. Some don't have much of a choice.

[–] [email protected] 49 points 1 month ago (11 children)

Still anecdotal and we could point you to all the people who lost their ability to walk due to chiropractors.

A physio or an osteopathic physician could have done the job just as well if not better 🤷

[–] [email protected] 32 points 1 month ago* (last edited 1 month ago)

If I would have had the opportunity to go to a physio or physical therapist, I absolutely would have.

Unfortunately, I was unable because I had no money or insurance, and the doctors able to to refer me to one simply would not.

I was not at a chiropractor because I wanted to be: I was there because no one else would help me.

I am not endorsing chiropractors: I was explaining why folks might go to one.

[–] Sarmyth 16 points 1 month ago

They might have been able to but they didn't, and they didn't get sent to them by all the other doctors that saw them.

Because chiropractors don't work within the medical system and are reckless enough to take action without playing "20 ways to cover your ass" before they are willing to act, you sometimes get stories like this.

I've met chiropractors with above average medical knowledge for your typical mall worker. Being able to afford and use an x-ray machine implies more effort than any chiropractors I've met as well. But yeah, if you are gonna kill yourself or you are having a movement related issue and are unable to get doctors to treat you, they aren't that bad.

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[–] [email protected] 28 points 1 month ago (2 children)

Those doctors sound awful. It's hard to imagine them at least not taking an X-ray if you came in telling them you have acute pain due to an injury, and why tf wouldn't they refer you to PT? Glad you're better

[–] [email protected] 18 points 1 month ago (2 children)

Yeah it's absolutely crazy that a chiropractor was the first person to think of X-raying chronic back pain.

[–] xantoxis 10 points 1 month ago (2 children)

Shit, I have back pain a lot less severe than this fella and my primary care straight up referred me to an MRI at my first appointment, which wasn't even primarily about my back. Doctors should have to maintain an empathy license.

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[–] [email protected] 7 points 1 month ago* (last edited 1 month ago)

I assume they didn't want me wasting time & resources. Plus, y'know.. I was poor & uninsured.

Appreciate your kind words! I'll never be back to 100%, as I was left with a lot of nerve damage for leaving it for so long, but I can walk again without pain, which I'm so fucking thankful for!

[–] ShortFuse 14 points 1 month ago

Fyi, you have (had) a decent malpractice suit against the first doctors, if you care to entertain that.

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[–] EnderMB 47 points 1 month ago (2 children)

My newborn was having issues with reflux that affected their sleep. A mother in our support class recommended going to see an infant chiropractor for an adjustment.

I couldn't believe my ears, and I probably made an enemy by outright asking why the fuck you would let a chiropractor crack the back of your 4 week old baby.

It amazes me how commonplace chiropractics are, and how people put a lot of faith in them before trying anything else.

[–] Ibaudia 29 points 1 month ago (2 children)

When someone offers you a panacea that requires 0 effort and is popularly accepted, it's pretty appealing. Especially if you're scientifically illiterate and don't know why it's bullshit.

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[–] The_Picard_Maneuver 7 points 1 month ago

I heard something similar when mine was a newborn and had the same appalled reaction. Luckily it wasn't in person - I read it in a random thread when looking something up. Might have been on reddit?

[–] [email protected] 41 points 1 month ago

The con doesn't work without confidence.

[–] ThatWeirdGuy1001 39 points 1 month ago (22 children)

I need something clarified by someone who doesn't go to a chiropractor and never has.

I've heard it's all bullshit from multiple sources over the years. I've heard they aren't even doctors most of the time and that there's no empirical evidence that supports chiropractic practitioners at all.

Every attempt to research this is met with thousands of results from low quality sources all singing its praise.

So is it bullshit?

[–] NoSpiritAnimal 37 points 1 month ago (1 children)

It's bullshit.

It was invented in 1895 by a guy who thought health issues were due to nerves not trasmitting enough energy in the body, which could be fixed by his new fangled snake oil medicine.

"A subluxatrd vertebra is the cause of 95 percent of all diseases, the other 5 percent is caused by displaced joints other than those in the vertabral column"

  • A real quote from Daniel David Palmer, beekeeper, school teacher, grocery store owner, magnetic healing spiritualist, metaphysicist, and world's first Chiropractor.
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[–] PlantDadManGuy 22 points 1 month ago (2 children)

Hi I'm an MD. Technically their schooling is not founded on solid science. In reality, most of them provide beneficial services for patients via massage, muscle stimulators, or gentle manipulation. I do not condone the aggressive spine cracking maneuvers of some chiropractors. As with most things in life, it's all very dependent on the individual in the room.

[–] littlebluespark 16 points 1 month ago

very dependent on the individual in the room.

As in, "if it's a chiropractor in the room, you're rolling dice with your spine and your wallet."

Fuck those charlatans.

[–] [email protected] 8 points 1 month ago

Surely the ones who aren't scam artists call themselves masseuses or sports therapists

[–] [email protected] 13 points 1 month ago (2 children)

I'm an osteopathic medical student and I will tell you that chiropractic practice is all bullshit. It was invented by a guy who claims he got the information from ghosts, and their education doesn't cover a fraction of what gets covered in nursing school, let alone medical school.

If you're interested in manipulative treatment, look for an osteopathic physician because our training is everything that MDs do plus the osteopathic manipulative medicine that's based on studies of anatomy and clinical trials.

Chiropractors are the ones that paralyze people and kill them by dissecting vertebral arteries. At best, their treatment will do nothing to help and just make crunchy noises, at worst, their techniques can kill you.

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[–] [email protected] 11 points 1 month ago

Yes. If you want an expensive massage that makes you feel better, go for a tuggy at the local knocking shop.

[–] Snowclone 6 points 1 month ago

Depends, some will message you, if you're there for muscle related therapy or some kind of physical therapy they do, that's pretty reasonably effective, but popping your bones is a very temporary kind of relief, and sometimes it can cause major health problems. It's a lot of risk for a half hour of relief a Tylenol might have equally helped with.

[–] [email protected] 6 points 1 month ago (2 children)

I need something clarified by someone who doesn't go to a chiropractor and never has.

Why would somebody who's never been to a chiropractor be the best person to ask whether or not it's bullshit? If this is how you find out if something is true, you're gonna be in for a rude awakening, and probably sooner than later.

[–] ThatWeirdGuy1001 11 points 1 month ago (1 children)

Because of confirmation bias.

If everyone who goes to a chiropractor says it's good but all evidence says otherwise then I need an outside opinion without the confirmation bias.

[–] [email protected] 6 points 1 month ago (4 children)

Being free from confirmation bias doesn't make you an expert, though. Their opinion could be influenced based on something they heard or all kinds of other things that have no bearing on whether or not it's true.

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[–] [email protected] 9 points 1 month ago (6 children)

Are there good people to see for back pain? Because I feel like looking for that is gonna turn up chiropractors as well and I'm not so sure I should even trust them with that shit.

[–] BrotherL0v3 42 points 1 month ago (1 children)

Physical therapists! I swear by physical therapy. I had sciatica for about a year, and after a few weeks of physical therapy, it was 100% gone.

The doctor I went to before that said basically "lose weight and come back in 6 months". My first PT session, the therapist did some deep tissue thing to my lower back and (temporarily) made the pain go away almost completely. She was like "Yeah you have an injured muscle that tenses up weird now, do these exercises at home and it should clear up" and ended up being 100% right.

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[–] [email protected] 11 points 1 month ago

Probably some combination of doctors and a physical therapist. A good general practitioner should be able to refer you to someone.

[–] The_Picard_Maneuver 9 points 1 month ago (1 children)

I'm not sure, but I do know that everyone I've ever known to go to a chiropractor for back pain has had poor results. Relief for a few days, then booking their next appointment, rinse and repeat, until eventually they stop wasting money on it.

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[–] Sonicdemon86 9 points 1 month ago

Physical therapy is what I use for my neck and back pain. They do massage then work the muscles and give out exercises for me to do at home.

[–] EtherWhack 7 points 1 month ago* (last edited 1 month ago)

Chiropracty is the equivalence of some random Joe seeing someone doesnt doesnt have a pulse and pulling the cable out of a lamp to shock them.

Sure it may cause a localized release of endorphins that may make the pain temporarily subside, but like using a defibrillator without knowing the patient's heart rhythm, you'd carry a huge risk of doing more harm than good

Eta: Forgot to add that physical therapy would be the first stop. If there is damage that may need medical intervention, it would be an orthopedist.

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