Newsletter: June & July 2006

Back to Articles & Newsletters Page

---

Four Chiropractic Myths and Misconceptions:

Myth 1: Chiropractors Only Treat Back Problems:

Although doctors of chiropractic are known for providing swift all natural relief from back pain, they are much more than mere “back doctors.” In fact, there are more than 13 million people a year in North America who visit Chiropractors as their primary health care provider. This means that people go to Chiropractors to maintain good health.

Chiropractic works by restoring your body's inborn ability to be healthy. Under the proper control of your nervous system, all the cells, tissues, and organs of your body are designed to resist disease and ill health. The chiropractic approach to better health is to locate and remove interferences (known as subluxations or misaligned vertebrae) to your nervous system. With improved spinal function, there is improved nervous system function. The goal of the chiropractor is to remove interference that may be impairing normal health through specific chiropractic adjustments, allowing your body to heal itself. A healthy spine and a healthy lifestyle are your keys to optimal health!

Spinal health is the cornerstone of the chiropractic approach to prevention. Doctors of chiropractic work to keep patient’s spines free of vertebral subluxations (misaligned vertebrae) by performing chiropractic adjustments. Vertebral subluxations have been associated with many conditions such as carpal tunnel syndrome; headaches, vertigo, and peripheral neuropathies. Preliminary scientific evidence also suggests that vertebral subluxations may have a negative effect on the immune system. (J Manipulative Physiol Ther 1992; 15:83-9)

Myth 2: Chiropractic Adjustments Hurt

Under most circumstances, chiropractic adjustments do not hurt. In fact, many patients (myself included) absolutely enjoy getting an adjustment. They actually look forward to the time that they can get adjusted because it feels terrific for them. New patients are often apprehensive about receiving an adjustment because of a natural fear of the unknown combined with a “cracking sound.” However, the sound heard from an adjustment (known as cavitation) is merely a drop in air pressure in a joint when a fixated (stuck) vertebra is put back in motion by the adjustment. Cavitation is not the sound of bones cracking or rubbing against each other

Thousands of people a day receive chiropractic adjustments by the more than 60,000 chiropractors all over the world. Many have no pain at all when they first come to a chiropractor’s office. Some are in mild pain and some are in more pain. If pain is not present in normal movement, the sensation of a chiropractic adjustment is not painful. Instead, there is usually an awareness that something extraordinarily good has just happened! If pain is already present in a person during normal movement, the pain does not normally increase during the adjusting process and is followed almost always by a release of pain.

Myth 3: Chiropractic is Unsafe:

According to a wealth of scientific evidence, chiropractic is an extremely safe health care option especially compared to drugs and surgery. It is estimated that more than 1,000,000 adjustments are received by patients worldwide every day and adverse reaction to treatment is very rare. The safety of chiropractic care is confirmed by the low malpractice insurance premium that chiropractors pay compared to the enormous premiums paid by medical doctors and other health care providers. This high degree of safety in chiropractic care is primarily due to the thorough examinations that are customarily made preceding treatment. These examinations are designed to screen conditions for which chiropractic care may not be indicated.

Chiropractic has proven to be far safer than drugs used to treat many complaints such as back pain, neck pain, and tension and migraine headaches. One study compared chiropractic to non steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs) as aspirin and ibuprofen. The study concluded that “the best evidence indicates that (chiropractic neck adjustments) for neck pain is much safer then the use of NSAIDs, by as much as a factor of several hundred times. There is no evidence that indicated that NSAID use is any more effective than (chiropractic adjustments) for neck pain.” (Journal of Manipulative & Physiological Therapeutics 1996; 18:530-6)

Are you sick and tired of listening to your coworkers complaining about being sick and tired? Tell them about chiropractic and get ready for some refreshingly positive water- cooler comments such as, “I feel great today.” Chiropractic adjustments are healthy, energy producing, stress relieving, and improve physical performance. Chiropractic adjustments help improves the quality of your life!

Myth 4: Chiropractors are Not as Well Educated as Medical Doctors:

Actually, Doctors of Chiropractic are very well educated. Both chiropractic and medical degrees require a minimum of seven years of academic study. After a minimum of three years of undergraduate work, the chiropractic curriculum consists of four academic years of rigorous study and training in a chiropractic college. This makes a total of seven academic years for the degree of Doctor of Chiropractic (D.C.).

Chiropractic education and medical education are similar in many respects and different in others because chiropractors do not prescribe drugs or perform surgery, and medical doctors do not correct vertebral subluxations. After graduating with a Doctor of Chiropractic (D.C.) Degree, every province in Canada requires chiropractors to earn a license before they can practice. Graduating chiropractors must attain passing scores on national and provincial board exams administered by the Canadian Chiropractic Examining Board (CCEB).

Chiropractors are not trained to treat organic diseases but are experts of musculoskeletal medicine. Medical doctors are well trained in treating disease and performing surgery but evidence suggest that they are not well trained in the area of musculoskeletal medicine. In their 2004 review published in Physician and Sportsmedicine, Joy and Van Hala (27) describe the formal training of a sample of 85 recent medical graduates: The average time spent in rotations or courses devoted to orthopedics during medical school was only 2.1 weeks. One-third of these examinees graduated without any formal training in orthopedics. As would be expected, these data suggest that limited educational experience contributes to poor performance. In 1998, Freedman and Bernstein published a landmark study in Journal of Bone and Joint Surgery wherein they administered a validated musculoskeletal competency examination to 85 recent medical graduates who had begun their hospital residency. Eighty-two percent of these medical doctors failed to demonstrate basic competency on the examination, leading the authors to conclude, "We therefore believe that medical school preparation in musculoskeletal medicine is inadequate."

Chiropractic is a self-governing profession; which means that doctors are bound to a professional code of conduct through national and provincial chiropractic associations, such as the British Columbia Chiropractors' Association (BCCA). This self-regulating and disciplinary process ensures that the public's health concerns are the chiropractic profession's highest priority.

A chiropractor's education, however, never ends. All chiropractic doctors complete regular postgraduate instruction for license renewal and to stay current on the latest research and adjustment techniques.

I can honestly say that the difference between medical doctors and doctors of chiropractic comes down to a difference in philosophy. We both study the same science courses of anatomy, physiology and biochemistry etc., but we have different views on how the body heals and becomes healthy.

OFFICE OFFERINGS:

Free!!! Two-Week Free Trial certificates for the Fitness Connection in our office. (No more excuses!)

FREE!!!! At our office -- Pocket or pouch-sized pamphlets on simple pre-golf stretches.

* FREE!!! Come in or call the office to get: "The Chiropractic Consumer's Report" a booklet that tells us what we need to know before and about choosing a Doctor of Chiropractic.

* FREE!!! The Fitness Prescription DVD: The DVD that Dr. Larry has produced is available at the office. Come in and get your copy of "The Fitness Prescription" or you may download it from our website home page

+ ONLY AT OUR OFFICE - Dr. Larry is certified in the Graston Technique and for the past two years has been having remarkable success in treating soft tissue injuries that have not responded to other therapies. Do you or someone you know suffer from soft-tissue injury? Tendonitis, carpal-tunnel, bursitis, plantar fasciitis? Many, many of our patients have had amazing results with the Graston Technique® designed especially for soft-tissue damage and used by many sports teams including the Olympics. Check out the information about GT on our website by clicking here. Call today for a consultation.

* LENDING LIBRARY - You are welcome to take out on loan from our library the sports medicine book that Dr. Larry co-authored "Inside The Minds: The Art and Science of Sports Medicine". We also have a variety of other books, cd's, and DVD's available for loan.

OFFICE REQUESTS:

Contact the office:
Dr. Larry Smith D.C., B.P.E.
Chiropractor

P.O. Box 307
255 Island Highway
Parksville, British Columbia
Canada V9P 2G5