by Freemage » Thu Apr 26, 2012 5:25 pm
*Twitch* The word "chiropractor" sets all sorts of alarm-bells off in my head. There's basically two broad categories:
Category 1 are essentially really good massage therapists. This category is fine, if perhaps a bit overpriced for what they do. Still, a decent massage therapist can help alleviate back pain, and will also offer the 'soft touch' element of medical practice (ie, getting to know you and actually treating you as a person as well as a patient) that can be hard to get in traditional medicine.
Category 2 are quacks of the first order, who will tell you that chiropractic methods alone will cure cancer, AIDS and all sorts of other problems that their discipline couldn't hope to touch. If every last one of these charlatans were to die of painful stage 4 cancer tomorrow, I wouldn't shed a single tear for any of them.
A few hints that your chiropractor may be in Category 2:
1: He talks about "energy flows" (or worse, 'chi') as if they were a thing.
2: She has articles talking about the founder of chiropractic medicine on the wall, and speaks about him in laudatory terms.
3: The term "innate intelligence" comes up, ever.
One trick: Ask if chiropractic treatment has any risks or potential side-effects. If they say, "No," run, don't walk, for the door. If anyone attempts to stop you, curse at them loud and long until they let you pass, and tell them to shove any bill for the initial consultation up their backside until they can taste it.
Any treatment that is remotely medically effective runs the risk of having a negative effect. An honest practitioner will tell you that. The only way for a medical treatment to have no possible side-effects is for it to have no effects at all. (See also: Homeopathy.) In fact, asking the chiropractor about homeopathy and "the risks of vaccination" are also good tests. If the chiropractor dismisses homeopathy as quackery, and tells you the risks of vaccination are real but vastly overblown for the non-allergic, then they're on the road to being a trustworthy source. If, OTOH, they seem to find homeopathy acceptable, or talk about a vaccination/autism link, then make sure you spit on them as you leave.
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Freemage, do you have a fanclub yet, and can I please join?