"Oh I BELIEVE in chiropractic"
"Yeah, I need to get REALIGNED sometime
soon"
"My hips become UNLEVELED about once a
month"
These are statements that as a chiropractor I hear
everyday, and I'm sure my colleagues do as well. Now I'm not one to argue
these points every time I hear them, but at some point we all need to release
some steam. So hear goes.
First of all, chiropractic is not a religion
therefore it requires no belief. I don't think I have ever heard someone
say, "oh I believe in orthopedic surgery", they just take it to be
the truth. So what is the difference? What has caused this faith
based relationship with a non-allopathic treatment for musculoskeletal injuries?
Well, it is our own fault, the chiropractor's fault. We are our own
worst enemy. Our dogmatic and sometimes blind chiropractic ideals that we
bind ourselves to tend cripple us in the publics' eye. When part of our
profession disregards current research, or continues to pitch an adjustment as
the cure for cancer we will continue to be viewed as a cultist movement rather
than the predominant and viable choice for musculoskeletal injuries. Now
I know some people out there are saying, "well the psychosocial aspect of
the treatment is known to be just as important or more important than the
treatment itself", you are exactly right. That is not a belief issue;
instead that is a perception issue. OUR reality does not exist in belief
it lives in perception.
Second, believe it or not we are not realigning
your spine, nor are we moving bones back into place or un-pinching a nerve. I
know this may be blasphemous to some chiropractors, but the truth is that we
are actually inducing movement into the joint or joint complex that may be
inhibited by osseous, muscular, tendonous, ligamentous structures or any
combination of the aforementioned. Through the induction of movement in
this inhibited joint, a neurological resetting and muscular relaxation occurs
due to the fast twitch muscle reflex being activated. Certain pain
inhibiting chemicals are also released in accordance with this adjustment.
Other effects of the chiropractic adjustment have been researched, such
as the increased or decreased parasympathetic/sympathetic function and improved
immune response, but most of these have not been studied in depth enough to
result in viable data.
My last point goes hand in hand with the previous
statement of "moving bones", I constantly hear patients stating that their
MD, PT or other practitioner told them that their "hips are unlevel"
and that they should possibly get adjusted. First of all, I truly do
appreciate the referral, but this is like me sending someone to his or her
primary care doctor for an ibuprofen deficiency because they have plantar fasciitis.
The NSAIDS may mask some of the pain, and may in fact give enough relief
to aid in healing, but that isn't really their problem.
I'll let you in on a secret, EVERYONE'S HIPS ARE
UNLEVEL!!! Humans are not symmetrical, so in essence we are never level
and we don't really need to be. Of course a huge difference in leg length,
scoliosis or some other deformity can cause unleveling or rotation, but it
really boils down to how you move. If your "hips" measure
differently but you can move through all planes of motion and you are pain free
then WHO CARES! Yes sometimes orthotics, heel lifts or other aids are
needed to help true anatomical variances, but those are not things that will ever
be remedied by a chiropractic adjustment alone.
All of this being said, I am and always will be a
chiropractor first, but we need to start being smart and stop being lazy.
We are not moving C7 back into place, or leveling a patients hips, and if
you think you are...well, you're wrong. Start educating yourself but more
importantly your patients and the public. Chiropractors do have a profound
impact, but that impact needs to be completely understood in order to be
PERCEIVED appropriately.
"There is no truth. There is only
perception."
- Gustave Flaubert
Until next time...
Stay light, stay fast.
Dr. Beau Beard, DC, MS
