I was watching Dr. Riekeman, Dr. Sigafoose, Dr. Barge and BJ Palmer videos the other day.  It was a great way to get spizzed up again about chiropractic care.  Rekindle the fire I have had about how awesome chiropractic care is and that passion has been in me since I was 12 years old.  Seriously I have wanted to be a chiropractor since I was 12 years old.

As I was watching the videos I started to scroll through the comments.  And wasn’t surprised to find a few negative comments thrown in amongst a great deal of positive.  And a question started to rattle around in my brain.

Why is chiropractic care so contentious?

The first argument is always, “it’s not a proven science or medical treatment.”  There are not enough studies to back up the evidence of a subluxation or the benefit of an adjustment.  I won’t list a bunch of studies I know nobody will read here, but there has been a huge upswing in research of chiropractic care. Simply go to www.palmer.edu and you will find a research tab at the top of the page.  You can read to your heart’s content and see how over the past 20 years there has been quite a few accredited studies on chiropractic.

No other health care profession that I can think of raises such an argument or amazingly strong dogmatic opinions.  For instance, I was at a graduation party and had somebody I never met before tell me, “Oh man I love my chiropractor.  I’m a believer and I know you guys get a bad reputation of being quacks.”  I always find it amusing when somebody tells me they are a believer.  You don’t have to believe for it to work.  It’s not a religion that we have to convince you there is some magic or greater being.  It’s your body healing and functioning correctly.

I’ve never heard somebody call a physical therapist a quack.  And you know what, they manipulating joints too.  How about a Doctor of Osteopath?  They manipulate spines and joints also.  In fact an osteopath originated some of the manipulation techniques.  Your family doctor might be a DO.  Are they quacks? How about a massage therapist, as they massage your muscles they may get an incidental release of a vertebra and manipulate your spine.  Are they quacks?

We aren’t real doctors.  That’s a common one.  Are we not real doctors because we don’t prescribe medications?  How about a functional medicine doctor that treats your body as a whole and doesn’t prescribe medications and is most likely an MD or DO?  Are they quacks?  How about your dentist? They can prescribe pain meds and antibiotics as needed for dental treatment.  But nobody goes to their dentist when they have a fever for antibiotics.  So are they quacks?  In fact dentist want you to come back twice a year for wellness health care of a cleaning and maintenance.  WHOA!  Are you kidding me?! How about the chiropractor that wants you to come back once a quarter for wellness care?  To get “tuned up” and keep your nervous system functioning at it’s best.  Is that quackery?

Once you go to the chiropractor you always have to go back.  Or maybe you can go to the chiropractor as long as you want to receive the benefits of chiropractic care.  I can go to the dentist as long as I want healthy teeth.  I can go to the gym as long as I want to stay in shape or lose weight.  I like when patients announce their last visit.  “Hey doc I’m feeling better I’m just gonna give you a call when I need you again.”  GREAT!  I appreciate the open honest conversation.

So why?  Seriously why is chiropractic such a contentious field?  Why do I have patients tell me that their family doctor scoffed at them when they said they saw me.  Or worse yet, say “well I don’t tell them I come to you.”  There are a few people in this world you should be totally honest with.  Your doctor, your lawyer, your accountant, your spouse…all depending on what kind of trouble you want to get into.

Plain and simple chiropractic care kicks ass.  You should be getting adjusted and take a little time to actually learn what chiropractic care is about.  It’s not about cracking backs or as my friend says, “snapping necks and cashing checks.”  It’s about correct nerve function, improved health, decreased pain, improved immune function, increased range of motion and overall proper body function the way we were designed to work.