Why do people think chiropractors are so bad?

Question 1
Why do people think chiropractors are so bad?...  The negative image of the chiropractor confuses me. Most people I know who have seen a chiropractor love them. Most people who 'hate' the chiropractors have never been to one but have heard all sorts of stuff from persons unqualified to make suggestions. What is even more disturbing is the fact much of the information or misinformation comes from one small group of highly paid, vocal and ignorant souls apparently paid to create a negative image. In fact when these groups are taken to court they lose and lose huge. Yet they maintain funding from anonymous sources who apparently pay their legal fees and foot the bill when they lose. It is my opinion that this is an ongoing effort by the medical elite to maintain a death grip on the health care industry which they feel should be exclusively theirs and theirs alone. Mine, its all mine and nobody else can have it.

Like a bunch of spoiled children.

Answers
1)   Mainly because there is a lot of pseudoscience surrounding chiropractic and people like you don't do the practice any favors either.
There are two class of Chiro's: 1. Claim to be able to help mild to moderate lower back pain, mostly of soft tissue origin. This is plausible and I have no problem with this. There is at least some evidence to support this.

The second class of Chiro's claim that all disease is the result of a misaligned spine and that spinal adjustments will rectify the problem. This is a composition fallacy and absolute nonsense. It's pure quackery. Chiropractic has never been demonstrated to alter the course of any specific disease entity. Providing chiropractors stay within their realms of minor musculoskeletal problems, I have no specific problem with them.

You’re trying to Tu quoque your way out of the dilemma of being an apologist for unproven woo. - Rhianna

2)   As long as I can remember, the medical community has rejected anything that does not fit their protocol for medical issues. They profess to be scientifically based, but when you dig deep into the studies it is obvious profit agendas, ghost writers, rejection of data that is contrary to the objective of the study, and many things have flawed that assumption. We now find ourselves in a huge mess where drug companies are controlling the health industry and with this money and power, they have been launching many campaigns on many fronts to protect their positions. Chiropractic medicine has been here for thousands of years being practiced in China as part of the three disciplines used in traditional Chinese medicine and with great success. Drug companies & so called "modern medicine" has been around for about 100 years.

The incredibly disgusting statistics of modern medicine focused on drugs that treat symptoms, not root causes of disease is causing people to look elsewhere for help. Modern drug medicine is under pressure to protect their territory now and this is causing marketing people to generate this negative attitude toward chiropractic physicians.

I have personally been helped greatly by a chiropractor and would never consider drug medicine being pushed by doctors as a solution. Modern medicine should be the LAST RESORT to any medical condition rather than the first resort. As modern medicine continues to fail people, I'm hearing more and more people saying they do NOT want to go to a typical doctor for help and are looking at alternatives that do work. And as more people are helped by alternatives, the more you will see the legal drug pushers fight back.

Chiropractic medicine works and works well. I also find chiropractors to be very honest with people as to what they believe they can fix and what they can't. That is not been my experience with doctors in the medical field. Drug experimentation and "Well let's see if this works" attitude is the rule, not the exception.

good luck to you - onlymatch4u

3)   "Why do people think chiropractors are so bad?"

Maybe because a lot of them claim that a simple back massage can cure colic, bed wetting, asthma, high blood pressure, arthritis, ear infections etc. Currently, a quarter of all chiropractors in the UK are being investigated for making such claims.

While some chiros in some countries may get a good education, others do not. Add a poor level of medical education coupled to the outrageous claims above and you can see why chiropractors may be considered as being 'bad'. - dave

4)   Because we do think bad of fraudsters.

Chiros pretend to be able to cure any and all deseases be it a broken foot a broken heart a stroke or just a flu to a with a back rub. That is fraud. - Herb Goldbaum

5)   Some Chiropractors are bad. Those are the stories you hear about. You don't hear the stories about the good ones.

People seem to believe that chiropractics involves nothing more than the spine. That is incorrect. It involves the central nervous system as a whole. It is the belief of at least the GOOD chiropractors that when the central nervous system is out of balance, sickness occurs, be it due to suppression of the immune system, due to organs not working correctly, or muscular imbalances that lead to other problems. It isn't just misalignment of the spine that causes these problems. There are also other factors such as misalignment of the hips and skull, in addition to muscular issues with impede blood flow and nerve signals.

Many people (and this includes many doctors) do not understand the the nature and scope of myofacial pain and related problems. A good chiropractor understand this and will resolve these issues without need of seeing a conventional doctor or requiring surgery.

Can a chiropractor cure your cancer? No. Can a Chiropractor cure your TMJ, Sinusitis, and a number of other nagging chronic problems that your doctor can do nothing about? Sure.

Someone above posted something about a chiropractor not being able to cure bed wetting. If they are trained in myofacial cause and effect, they can. Trigger points in the lower rectus abdominis can cause this problem. Can they cure 100% of the cases? No, probably not. If there is some sort of genetic defect in the organs, nothing can be done about that by any doctor.

The Medical and Pharma Lobbys have a grudge against anyone who practices alternative medicine. If you seek alternative medicine, you are taking money out of their pockets. It isn't about concern for the patients that motivates this. It is about money. - WereTurtle

6)   " What is even more disturbing is the fact much of the information or misinformation comes from one small group of highly paid, vocal and ignorant souls apparently paid to create a negative image. In fact when these groups are taken to court they lose and lose huge."

Really? You'd better inform Simon Singh and the BCA because one of 'em is in hoc to the other to the tune of something like £300,000. 25% of them have or are being investigated by trading standards or the ASA for making claims and pushing treatments for which there is not a jot of evidence for efficacy. - Nitram


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Question 2
What's the best NATURAL painkiller ?...  Wanted a natural pain killer to use INSTEAD of paracetamal. I already take a supplement containing glucasamine, chondroitin, aloe vera, collagen & msm.
However I still get quite a bit of continual pain in my neck & shoulders.
Ideally I prefer either liquid or chewable medication as I find it difficult swallowing pills & capsules.
Anyone know of a suitable product that might help please.

Answers
1)   I heard weed takes the pain away. that's natural. - Revi

2)   I find Paracetamol unhelpful and believe soluble Aspirin is still the best, taken after food, you may not consider it natural but I believe it is a plant extract (not sure, but think it was extracted from Willow). I always use Anadin Original and usually find 1/2 a capsule sufficient. Good luck. God bless. Gladgran - gladgran

3)   wash/rinse about 14 grams of morning glory seeds (found at well... anywhere, on the seed packet shelves) then use a coffee grinder to grind them up you will not know your shoulders hurt i promise - John

4)   Pineapple contains a chemical that alleviates pain (not a magical solution but can help), however I tend to mentally block it out rather than take pills. Also if the pain is in your neck/shoulders consider your posture. - Jimbo W

5)   Do not try the third answer unless you want to hallucinate!yes I really do not know what helps my husband struggles with pain in his knees and is currently taking chondroitin and Glucosimine I hope you find what you are looking for though. - The Sauce


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Question 3
Does anyone have a cure for sore throats? Anything that might even have the slightest possibility of working!?...  Every month i get really bad sore throats/throat infection.
I fought it myself this month with loads of packets of honey and lemon losenges. But i'm just sick of always being sick.
Anyone know anything that may help?

Answers
1)   Ginger tea will help raise your body's temp up just a little and help you fight it off. Honey will soothe your throat, but still if you have strep throat you need to see a Dr. because it can hurt the rest of your body including your heart. - Jimbo W

2)   http://www.pathlights.com/nr_encyclopedia/

Section 4
Head and Throat - Einstein

3)   I know this may sound weird but when I have a sore throat I drink coca cola it helps numb your throat.I used to get sore throats all the time. - The Sauce

4)   Ask your doctor for a vitamin D test called the 25-hydroxyvitamin D test. Vitamin D actives the immune system and deficiency symptoms include colds/flu etc. I had the most severe strep throat for a month and my vitamin D levels were very low. Vitamin D blood levels between 70–80 ng/mL or 175–200 nmol/l are optimal. I found the best way to relieve the pain was gargling warm salty water ever half and hour. 1 teaspoon of salt to a glass of water. - ƦєdAиgєℓ

5)   Well sometimes you get sore throats because of your toothbrush. You need to change your tooth brush once every 1 or 2 months. The germs tend to build up and that can lead to sore throats if you were sick and kept using the same toothbrush. - lunamoon


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Question 4
My toddler ate one centrum chewable vitamin should I be concerned?...  

Answers
1)   no, he/she will be perfectly fine - Alexander

2)   No you shouldn't be concerned at all. - daisy

3)   As long as it is only one. Just watch for signs of nausea. Other than that the little en will be just fine - Mandy Naylor

4)   Yes, if it contains iron.
I centrum vitamin may not be a problem.
But next time, what if your toddler eats half a bottle before you catch it?
If it has iron in it....it can kill a little one. - Bro John


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Question 5
Why are people so ignorant of Chiropractic?...  I read a question that disturbed me to no end. Apparently People are not aware of a chiropractors education level. Doctors of chiropractic do attend premedical studies and study exactly the same course material as an MD. In fact the course work for a Chiropractor exceeds the coursework for an MD by 139 hours. Most of that education is focused on neurology, neuroanatomy, neurophysiology, etc. The MD education focuses on Pharmaceuticals and the related symptoms for which to prescribe Pharmaceuticals. Also, the MD is at present in 2010 the leading cause of preventable death in the Untied States of America. Only three years ago they were in third place, now they have achieved the top spot. Current numbers are 700,000 per year. chiropractors have a bad reputation only because they cannot afford the air time necessary to out pace pharmaceutical advertising. It happens to be the pharmaceutical industry that support the current MD image as the industry requires the MD to prescribe their product in order to maintain profit. In 1910 the Harrison act spurred the Pharmaceutical industry to begin donating to medical colleges in order to influence the education of the next generation of MD who they needed to help maintain profits which were now subject to regulation.

Chiropractors have been offered the opportunity to 'write' prescriptions. The profession has refused that offer for the simple reason that pharmaceuticals are not absolutely necessary for the promotion of proper health and wellness. In fact chiropractors view most medications as a temporary stop-gap for momentary and temporary issues, not life long daily intake.
Slim, that depends on the hip problem and the cause. Chiropractors are spine centered. However, depending on the type of hip problem and providing that the segments haven't degenerated you likely need a different chiropractic technique.

Answers
1)   Chiropractors can't fix my hip problems, that is why. - Slim

2)   The point you are missing is this; It does not matter how long you've spent at Uni, it does not matter how much knowledge you have on the human body; this does not alter the fact that chiropractic has never been demonstrated to alter the course of any specific disease entity. Conventional medicine has.

Providing chiropractors stay within their realms of minor muscklo-skeletal problems, I have no specific issue with them. Any that make claims beyond this, in particular subluxations are...

1. Dishonest lying
2. Need psychiatric evaluation

Conventional medicine isn't the leading cause of death either, stop lying. MDs training does not just focus on Pharmaceuticals. Thats a big misconception.

And you aren't doing the chiropractic world any favors either. Attempting to justify the lack of evidence base for chiropractic with a conspiracy theory is just childish. Also, in most of Europe, Pharmaceutical companies have nothing to do with medical schools. And even if they do provide funding to some medical school, this does not make conventional medicine wrong and this STILL does not demonstrate efficacy of Chiropractic.

Your attitude and general opinion of MDs and conventional medicine is part of the reason why chiropractic isn't taken seriously in the medical and scientific community.
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@ Onlymatch4u: There are multiple logical problems with the data you’ve quoted, or rather your interpretation of it. And the use of it in your argument against conventional medicine. I’m at work and we are quite busy so I haven’t got time to have a proper look at your source, but it’s likely that most of the figures you have quoted have been extrapolated.

Regardless of numbers, the problem is this, it’s fallacious to list the negatives without listing the benefits. You have to include the denominator. Unless you include the benefits of conventional medicine, how can you determine that conventional medicine does more harm than good?

How many people owe their lives to conventional medicine? How many peoples lives and quality of life has been prolonged and improved with conventional medicine? Just because conventional medicine has the ability to be harmful and medical errors have been made, does not mean we should abandon conventional medicine and ignore all the benefits- which by far outweigh the risks. Of the people who died as a result of medical negligence, error and drug reactions, how many of those would have died anyway? Ex: technically speaking, hypoglycaemia as a result of insulin, can be classed as an adverse drug reaction, however without the insulin, the patient would die anyway.

Lets take food for example. I, like many people, have a severe allergy to peanuts, if I eat peanuts I would go into anaphylactic shock and without urgent intervention, likely die. Should we ban peanuts too?

Even if conventional medicine killed everyone, this STILL does not demonstrate efficacy of Altmed. Yes homeopathy, etc does not cause side effects, water in normal amounts generally doesn’t, however it does not work either. You cannot determine one is better on the basis it causes less side effects.

You mentioned heart disease, cancer and stroke.Heart disease ( in particular CAD) and cardiovascular events such as MIs and strokes often as a result of it, are to a certain extent a natural part of the ageing process. We are all living longer, so we are bound to see increased instances of these diseases and events. Also, in the case of CAD and a few other chronic diseases, an unhealthy diet and lifestyle (e.g. excess alcohol and food consumption, smoking and lack of exercise) accelerate these problems. Just because conventional medicine cannot undo some of the damage we cause ourselves (I’m not saying all these diseases are a result of damage we cause), does not equate to conventional medicine fail. Cancer is a disease of ageing and the majority of cancers are diagnosed in older people. However, other factors such as genetics, viruses, enviromental factors etc come into play. Just because we cannot cure all cancers, does not equate to conventional medicine fail.

With regards to antibiotics, yes, Doctors were incorrectly prescribing antibiotics for infections that were often of viral origin (e.g. many throat and upper respiratory infections)and this has indeed contributed towards antibiotic resistance. However, steps have been put in place to reduce the number of unnecessary Rx. Again this does not equate to conventional medicine fail. And its not as simple as that either, you haven’t taken patient non -compliance into consideration and numerous other factors.

Finally you haven’t presented any evidence that contradicts what I have said about chiropractic and there have indeed been documented cases of chiropractic causing strokes due to neck adjustments.

Conventional medicine unquestionably has it's limitations, but it is increasing based on evidence and reproducible results. And consider this: conventional medicine actually bothers to review and discards treatments shown to be ineffective. The alties seldom to the same and apparently have never heard of the concept of quality improvement.

FAIL. - Rhianna

3)   "Rhianna" Your statement is a complete fabrication of your indoctrination and ignorance of the facts. Again and again you make statements that are very feeble and further evidence that you support anything that fits your little box agendas. This statement: "You are not on the same parr as MDs, and conventional medicine isn't the leading cause of death, stop lying" is false and you know it or at least should know it. You do need to free yourself from the lies you believe.

Here is a study that was done that proves the leading cause of death in the U.S. is from iatrogenic problems. The number of deaths far exceeds any one major disease.

In July 2004, Gary Null Ph.D, Carolyn Dean M.D., N.D, Martin Feldman M.D., Debora Rasio M.D., Dorothy Smith Ph.D. wrote a paper that revealed very disturbing facts regarding an annual iatrogenic (induced inadvertently by a physician or surgeon or by medical treatment or diagnostic procedures) death rate of 783,936 in one year. It is further disturbing to realize that as few as 5 percent and only up to 20 percent of iatrogenic acts are ever reported. This means that that iatrogenic death rate of 783,936 is much higher.

As we look at the causes of death from degenerative diseases and other causes in America in 2004, it is obvious we are not good at solving this problem on any level. Deaths from: Heart Disease 652,000, Cancer 553,000, and Stroke 150,000.

When comparing the iatrogenic acts of modern medicine in America with the statistical numbers of people dying of any particular disease, it is evident that the American medical system is the leading cause of death and injury in the United States. And when we look at the cost of these iatrogenic deaths, the cost is in the billions.

A definitive review and close reading of medical peer-review journals, and government health statistics shows that American medicine frequently causes more harm than good. The number of people having in-hospital, adverse drug reactions (ADR) to prescribed medicine is 2.2 million. Dr. Richard Besser, of the CDC, in 1995, said the number of unnecessary antibiotics prescribed annually for viral infections was 20 million. Dr. Besser, in 2003, now refers to tens of millions of unnecessary antibiotics. The number of unnecessary medical and surgical procedures performed annually is 7.5 million. The number of people exposed to unnecessary hospitalization annually is 8.9 million.

In regard to chiropractic care helping diseases of any kind other than muscle or skeletal problems, you are again completely out of your league of understanding. Chiropractic care is more preventative focused and helps all kinds of diseases that modern medicine cannot because it provides very good immune improvements to the body that drugs do not and in fact, most drugs damage the body in many ways. These "side effects" from drugs and interactions that take place with drugs are killing people everywhere. When did a chiropractic adjustment kill someone?

Your non descript, non committal, double talk is getting very old to most people here, except for the little group that follows you around vomiting the typical indoctrination.

Good luck to you - onlymatch4u

4)   With chiropractors claiming to treat things they cannot treat then trying to defend this by claiming it's a Big Pharma led conspiracy theory, I'm not surprised that the public hear "chiropractor" then think "quack" before going to a real doctor.

Pretty ridiculous to think that MDs are a cause of death! They certainly don't make it into the top 10:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_preventable_causes_of_death

Saying they are is probably as stupid as saying "lots of people die in hospitals, so I keep out of them at all cost". - dave


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