All my chiropractor friends are going to just love this email….
If you’ve ever considered chiropractic care for your back or neck pain, you may want to think again. Why?
One reason is there have been several recent cases where individuals suffered a stroke after having spinal manipulations done on their neck by chiropractors.
Now, I am NOT saying that all chiropractic care is dangerous…
But I do believe, that most people do NOT need spinal manipulation. Are there some situations where it may be necessary, yes, but not many.
But chiropractic care has a much bigger problem…
The basic philosophy or approach is flawed., Yes, I said flawed, as in it does not make sense. Most chiropractors focus primarily on manipulations and they are trying to force the body back into alignment. Well, it seems to make sense, right?
Problem is, the muscle imbalances are what pulled your body and spine out of alignment to begin with and those same imbalances will still be there after a manipulation…
And those muscle imbalances will pull your body right back out of place, and usually within a day or two… and that’s why, most chiro’s treat their patients 3 times week.
If you aren’t familiar with muscle imbalances I urge you to learn more about them. Start by reading this article about muscle imbalances.
Now don’t get me wrong, most chiropractors are honest and caring people, and I also like the fact that it’s a natural approach to treating various conditions BUT…
Unless you are addressing the muscle imbalances in conjunction with the manipulations, you will likely never get lasting relief because over time the imbalances WILL pull you back into what I call a “dysfunctional” position and the pain will return.
Just ask any one who sees a chiropractor frequently and they’ll tell you that they can’t go long without treatment and many patients end up going weekly or monthly for years, even decades.
Now I know the rebuttal from every chiro to that is likely to be “patients come in for treatments frequently and consistently for months and years because it’s important to keep the spine in the proper alignment”.
While maintaining a healthy alignment is important, it doesn’t require spinal manipulations. Corrective exercises and stretches not only can do the job most of the time, they actually work much better because you are addressing the muscles that are pulling the body out of alignment.
But what about other treatments that chiropractors offer?
Well, it depends on what you are talking about… electrical stimulation? ultrasound? generic exercises? None of these are very effective. But I know that there are some forward thinking chiro’s out there who do more than the same ol chiropractic treatment…
The really sharp ones, the ones I know, incorporate things like corrective exercises and stretches that are targeted to the persons specific muscle imbalances… they utilize muscle activation therapy to strengthen specific muscles… they use manual muscle therapy techniques… they incorporate massage therapy… they use trigger point therapy to eliminate spasms and relax chronically tight muscles, and so on.
They take an approach to treatment that incorporates the whole body, like what I teach in my audio program, The Complete Healing Formula.
The point is this, there are some chiropractors who are great and there are a ton who aren’t. If you work with a chiro and your typical treatments lasts about 15 minutes and includes electrical stimulation and a few quick cracks of the back, I urge you to find another asap and learn about all of the other types of treatments that have been proven to be effective. You can find information on over a dozen different treatments here.
Oh, and if you want to watch the news story I mentioned, you can find it on Fox5 news here
So anyone up for some neck manipulation?
Talk to you again soon…
Jesse Cannone, CFT, CPRS, MFT
P.S. Share your thoughts and experiences with chiropractic care on our discussion forum
