? SHOULD YOU SEE A CHIROPRACTOR ?

1) Chiropractors are usually very nice, conscientious people. (I apologise in advance should my views cause any offence to the abovementioned worthy souls).

2) Patients often report they feel better after having chiropractic treatment. but.... (sadly there is always a “but”)

3) No-one, to my knowledge, who sees a chiropractor is told : “Go away you are well and do not need treatment”. If one hundred fit healthy people attended for a chiropractic check-up - They would all be told there is a serious problem with the alignment of their back. This is contrary to my years of medical practice where I have found that most people are in fact OK! Most blood counts come back normal. Most X rays do not show cancer.

4) Research has repeatedly shown that over 90% of back pain will settle with time. Thus whether or not you have chiropractic treatment, you are destined to improve.

5) The back is not well designed and most people will have back pain from time to time. This is an endless source of income for the chiropractor, who would have you believe that you need to attend for an “adjustment” which only he or she can give, each time you have a back ache. The medical approach would be to try and give you control over the problem with exercises and lifestyle changes as well as acceptance that your back will hurt sometimes.

6) Serious back disease can be overlooked by chiropractors who are not medically trained. Since these are rare, the chiropractor has odds in his favour. At least one of my patients has died of a spinal tumour which was initially repeatedly manipulated by a well-meaning but nonetheless ignorant chiropractor.

7) Chiropractors frequently stray into areas completely outside musculoskeletal treatment. The original tenet of chiropractic was that all disease originates in the spine. Thus chiropractors undertook to treat liver disease, kidney disease, bowel disease etc. Most modern chiropractors recognise that this is imprudent and stick to aches and pains...but it is always tempting to do more.

8) Chiropractors frequently X ray large parts of your body. This is rarely medically justified. Radiation from X rays is not harmless. Chiropractors can see problems on your X rays which are invisible to expert radiologists and orthopaedic specialists.