Download Your Name - Michelle Smith

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Michelle Smith
Professor Fernley
English 1010
Dec. 8, 2013
Is Chiropractic Medicine All That it is “Cracked Up” to be?
It is estimated that 30 million people are treated by a chiropractor each year and
chiropractic’s is the third largest primary health care profession in the nation behind dentists and
medical doctors, according to sharecare.com. Yet, chiropractic medicine continues to be a debate
in today’s society. Is chiropractic care profitable to people or are they merely being deceived? If
chiropractic medicine is used so much among Americans, why is it still a controversial issue in
todays’ society? Could it be that chiropractic medicine’s poor reputation leads to the doubt of the
validity of the medicine? Could it be that people are confused about the nature of chiropractic
medicine or they may have negative feelings about their own experience? Because of my own
unpleasant experience with chiropractic medicine, this topic has taken a hold of my interest and I
have explored many views on the subject. These different views have been discussed by others in
unique points that I have considered as I have formed my own opinion.
What are the benefits of chiropractic care and who is likely to benefit? Almost everyone
with a health related problem could benefit from chiropractor care. A seven- year study showed
that patients whose primary physician was a chiropractor experienced less pharmaceutical costs,
fewer outpatient surgeries, fewer hospital admissions and fewer days in the hospital. Chiropractic
medicine has also helped children with asthma and a study found that after 60 days of
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chiropractic care, asthma attackers decreased by 44.9 percent and medication percent was
decreased by 66.5 percent according to the Journal of Manipulative and Physiological Therapy.
It is cautioned that children and pregnant women be careful when going to a chiropractor.
Although it is generally safe, some serious injuries could occur when treated.
Ever since Daniel David Palmer founded chiropractic medicine, it has had scientific
controversies swirling around the profession. According to Palmer, “A subluxated vertebra is the
cause of 95 percent of all diseases” which can be explained by a blockage of signals through the
spine to other organs in the body. The belief is that manipulation or adjusting of the spine will
help heal damage nerve endings to bring health and balance back to the body. While I was
interviewing Dr. Joshua Philips, a chiropractor in Ogden, Utah, I found out that he agrees with
Palmer. He supports Palmers ideas, and feels his ideas are the basis of the profession today. He
states, “Patients will always benefit from it, the nervous system will always benefit, period. If the
nervous system is clear, it is always going to operate better. If there is static in your system, it
doesn’t respond well. Your brain talks to your body through nerve endings. If it is muffled, then
a sign or symptom starts to show up like tingling or numbness. Clear nerve endings respond
better when the static in your nervous system is cleared through manipulation.” On the other
side, Dr. Holoma, disagrees with Palmer and Phelps and states, “Neither logic nor scientific
evidence supports such a belief. Although spinal manipulation can relieve certain types of back
pain, neck pain, and other musculoskeletal symptoms, there is no scientific evidence that it can
restore or maintain health.” I agree with Phelps and Palmer that it is important for the body to be
at its optimal level and that the way the body tells us that something is wrong is by creating pain
or numbness, but I am of another mind about vertebral subluxation. On one hand, it makes sense
that the body is linked together and all signals travel through the spine, but on the other hand, I
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don’t agree that a few simple adjustments can cure heart disease. If the heart has difficulties for a
heart related issue, surgery or drugs for the heart would be required.
Many people, including me, have heard the well -known word that describes
chiropractors as “quacks.” This word gives a bad reputation to chiropractors right off and creates
biases for the patient before they visit a chiropractor. So, what exactly is a “quack”? To me, it is
a doctor who claims to have medical skills, but actually does not possess them. In the
documentary, “Doctored,” they argue about this inaccurate term used to describe chiropractors.
This leads to American doctors overlooking and not trusting what chiropractic medicine can do
for their patients. Instead of suggesting chiropractic treatment for their pain, they prescribe too
much pain medicine that eventually creates an addiction for the patients. This type of treatment is
not only dangerous and expensive, and can be physically exhausting which can cause the patient
to lose hope. In my own experience, whenever I have a headache I go right to the cupboard and
get a couple of ibuprofen pills to cure my pain. I can’t image living with a headache everyday
and reaching for pain medication as the only way to relieve my pain. My heart went out to the
story of the man in the documentary who was trying to get off his addiction to pain medications
because of his chronic back pain. I believe that chiropractic treatment can relieve pain, but
should be used as a short -term treatment and should be followed up by physical therapy.
Chiropractic’s often involves many expensive but quick treatments. Some people
consider the marketing and sales tactics chiropractors demonstrate to be aggressive and
distasteful, especially pre-paid treatment packages. This also includes the selling of many other
services and products that are even more controversial than conventional chiropractic care. So,
do chiropractors sell too aggressively? Dr. Sam Homola comments on the matter,” One of the
most disturbing complaints I hear comes from chiropractic patients who have paid thousands of
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dollars in advance for a course of treatment lasting several months after succumbing to a highpressure sales pitch involving scare tactics. These patients have usually opted to discontinue
treatment because symptoms have either worsened or disappeared. Most have signed a contract,
however, that does not allow a refund, even if the treatment regimen was not completed. Some
have used a chiropractic “health care credit card” to borrow the advance payment from a loan
company, leaving the patient legally bound to repay the loan.” One way this can be avoided is
finding a good chiropractor that will focus on your health instead of focusing on making money.
Unfortunately, many people are not comfortable with having their spinal joints “cracked”
or manipulated. In the world of chiropractic’s, there are two kinds of people: some people crave
spinal joint cracking, and to others it seems like fingernails on a chalkboard. This brings up a
question of mine: If “cracking” your knuckles is bad for you, then why is it okay for
chiropractors to “crack” your back? Dr. Lee Pierce of Huntington Beach, CA, argues this
commonly confused question. He says,” When you are taking a joint and pushing it beyond its
normal range of motion to get the “pop”, there occurs some micro drama to the joint. Doing it
repeatedly over an extended period of time causes wear and tare and is not a good idea.”
Furthermore, he concludes that if the joint is not pushed beyond the normal limits such as
treatment with a chiropractor, it is safe to be adjusted and beneficial to loosen tight joints.
Many fears of new chiropractic patients are the concern of neck or spinal injury that can
occur when being treated. One of the biggest concerns is a stoke occurring with neck
manipulation. Strokes can occur because there are major blood vessels that carry blood, oxygen,
and nutrients to the brain. Since the vertebral arteries travel inside the bones of the neck, neck
injuries can pinch or damage them. Since the vertebral arteries travel inside the bones of the
neck, neck injuries can pinch or damage them and results in a blockage of blood to the brain.
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Depending on what part of the brain the stroke occurred, it could cause brain damage in that
area. This results in paralysis, inability to communicate, and lose of body movement. Dr.
Michael Batipps, a neurologist that works at the Washington Hospital says, “Manipulation of the
neck should be done by some who is an expert at it and knows how to use proper precautions.
Not only is there the possibility of kinking the arties, which is rare, there is also the possibility of
kinking the spinal column.” Although this can be a risk and there have been reports of this
happening, research finds that this is rare. According to accessbackcare.com, the chance of
getting struck by lighting is at a higher risk than suffering from a chiropractic stroke. Only 2
people per 10 million in the United States suffer from a stroke from neck manipulation.
In conclusion, is chiropractic medicine all that is it “cracked up” to be? The positives
show to improve health and relieve pain, while the negatives are all about the risks of injury and
finding well-qualified chiropractors. Dr. David Colquhoun said in his article, “Doctor Who?
Deception By Chiropractors,” “The first thing one wants to know about any treatment —
alternative or otherwise — is whether it works. Until that is decided, all talk of qualifications,
regulation, and so on is just vacuous bureaucratese.” When everything is said and done,
ultimately everyone has their own philosophies of what is right for them in alternative medicine.
To me, I feel I have a better understanding of what chiropractic medicine has to offer. From this
point, I don’t see myself heading to the chiropractor any time soon, but do have respect for this
type of medicine. Although I feel strongly about physical therapy, there have been some patients
who have expressed their disappointment in their treatment. Chances of failure is common in all
type of medicine, but keeping an open mind of the alternatives will help find the treatment that is
best for everybody.
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Worked Cited
Chiropractic." Wikipedia. Wikimedia Foundation, 12 Apr. 2013. Web. 06 Dec. 2013.
"Cnn Dr. Sanjay Gupta Reports on Chiropractic Stroke." CNN. You Tube, 11 May 2010. Web.
07 Dec. 2013.
Colquhoun, David. "DC's Improbable Science." DCs Improbable Science RSS. N.p., 5 July 2008.
Web. 07 Dec. 2013.
Doctored. Dir. Bobby Sheehan. Indiegogo, 2012. DVD.
Gonzalez, Daniel. "Chiropractic Helps with Asthma." Chiropractic Helps with Asthma. Family
Health Chiropractic, 5 May 2013. Web. 07 Dec. 2013.
Homola, Sam. "Chiropractic Gimmickry « Science-Based Medicine." Chiropractic Gimmickry «
Science-Based Medicine. Science-based Medicine, 17 Aug. 2012. Web. 07 Dec.
2013.“How Many People Seek Chiropractic Care Each Year?" - Chiropractic Treatment.
American Chiropractic Association, n.d. Web. 07 Dec. 2013.
Phelps, Joshua. Personal Interview. Nov. 7, 2013.
"Schumacher Chiropractic Clinics." Http://schumacherblog.com. Journal of Manipulation and
Physiological Therapy, May 2007. Web. 07 Dec. 2013.
"What Makes the Cracking Sound? Explained by Dr. Lee Pierce." YouTube. YouTube, 17 Dec.
2012. Web. 07 Dec. 2013.
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Reflection:
1. The feedback that I received was great and helped me to see others views. Many of the
comments included experiences of their own saying that they were once skeptical, but went to a
chiropractor and the results were good. Others were saying that physical therapy could result in
not working for you, it really depends on your body and how it responds that that kind of
treatment. More information was asked about chiropractic statistics and to explain how things
can go wrong with a chiropractor.
2. I revised my paper by adding doctor opinions that commented on the topic I was addressing.
This type of evidence can help persuade by having the topic supported by a firm believer. I tried
to cover the positives of seeing a chiropractor as well as the negatives to show different views. I
stated my state of mind while adding in some statistics and tried to explain things well to see the
issue as a whole.
3. I feel that I have done well on this paper. I have certainly learned a lot from doing research
and gathering information to argue both sides of this topic. I feel that I have met the criteria for
this paper. In my introduction I used karios to introduce that the topic is conversional in today
society by explaining of its popularity. In the body of my paper, I used some my annotated bib.
resources to group together the pros and cons of my topic. In each paragraph, I argued both sides
of that subject and supported the subject with evidence. I framed by quotes well by setting them
up to be used. I used transitional words and proofread my paper to help it read smoothly. I used
the “I say” to develop subjects for my paragraphs and included my opinion as well. I concluded
my paper by using the so what/who cares approach by explaining that each individual has his or
her own belief about what is best the best treatment for them.
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