From what I have gathered, there is a little bit of evidence that suggests chiropractic medicine may help with lower back pain, but that is about it. My question is, how do universities allow it to be taught if there isn’t solid scientific evidence to support it and what do they even cover in a 4+ year Doctor of Chiropractic program?
How Is Chiropractic Medicine Taught in Schools if There Is Not Much Science to Back It Up?
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My brother-in-law is currently in school to become a chiropractor. I’m not around him that often but when I am he is usually studying what I would consider anatomy (maybe). Lots of flash cards for memorizing bones, muscles, etc.
I think the answer to your question is “schools”?
It’s a grift. It’s “taught” just like all other grifts.
It’s the correct practice of medicine that’s taught, based on evidence that it does work, not so much the theory of how it works. It’s true, in the case of conventional medicine, there is a lot of theory about how it works, as well as good evidence that it does work, that’s well supported by research. Still, most doctors learn that foundational theory very early. There are conventional medicines used because they work, even though we don’t know how they work. What matters is that some practice has been shown to work.
Reddit is pretty hard on chiropractic doctors and a lot of them are modern day snake oil slamesmen. All I can say for sure is that I couldn’t be on my feet for more than 2 hours at a time without being in some pain. So I went to one, he said one of my legs was shorter than the other but it was because of a hip problem. I saw him once a week for a month, he fucked with my hip, and then I could easily handle 8-hour shifts no problem. Maybe it was placebo? But whatever. I could do my job without being in pain.
It’s taught that chiroprator schools. None of the universities I’m familiar with have anything to do with chiropractic “medicine”.
There is a lot of evidence to support chiropractic medicine as providing pain relief.
The issue is chiropractors vs physical therapists and it’s the adage of give a guy a fish or teach a guy how to fish … Or whatever.
Personally I go to a chiropractor once a month and am fully aware I could avoid it by doing physical therapy and sticking to the exercises I’m given … Or I can go to the chiropractor and not do that.
Chiropractor fixed my forward neck tilt with an atlas vibe tool that I’ve had most of my life. Not sure his that’s psuedoscience
Because it differs by schools, and some of those school do back it by science.
“School”
What university has a 4 year doctor of chiropractic program?
Same reason there was a Trump “University”. This is just a longer established grift.
i’ve met a few chiropractors — every one of them sketch af — nasty pieces if work . . .
Mostly because they want to and no one is stopping them is my best answer.
In my 20’s and 30’s if it were not for a chiropractor, I would not have been able to walk upright and pain free. Adjustments work.
Accredited universities don’t teach it. There’s only a few “schools” in the US that do. They continue because there are enough people willing to pay to learn. It doesn’t help that some medical insurance covers chiropractic “treatment” despite little evidence that it helps and some that it causes damage.
Because it is not taught or in schools. They hand them a meaningless diploma or something and say some bullshit.
They have their own schools. Anything else that they get at general universities is basic, usually physical therapy or exercise science. The chiropractic side comes from chiropractic schools.
Lots of things are taught in “schools” with no. Eating in science or reality
My brother was a chiropractor. He studied a LOT. I’m a shrink, so I don’t know how it compared to MD training, but the volume of material sure looked like it belonged on the doctor side of the fence.
Lookup the “discovery” of chiropractic “medicine”.
The founder had the principals relayed to him in an alcoholic vision by ghosts or aliens. Not making that up!
The most interesting thing I have heard about Chiropractic Medicine is that the AMA, in many locations, has been actively pushing for Chiropractic Medicine to be included as one of their specialties. Needless to say the Chiropractors Association has been fighting this.
From personal experience I used to think it was all snake oil and witch doctors. When I first hurt my back my primary care Doctor sent me to a Chiropractor. Luckily I found a good one and was able to get on a good plan that produced results. Most recently I had dislocated a rib when I was reaching down under some floor tiles to drag some heavy power cables through. Unbeknownst to me I had one rib taking the pressure on the edge of the floor tile. The rib was slightly pushed down in under one of the other ones to the point you could actually feel the indentation on my side. After spending about three days with a lot of pain and having to be careful when I breathed, I asked my Chiropractor about it. He told me he could do an adjustment to get it back into place, but it would hurt a lot. You know when a doctor says it’s going to hurt it’s going to really hurt. It did. To my surprise, the next morning I could breathe normally and had no pain.
Not all Chiropractors are created equal and some are snake oil salesmen. If you go to a new Chiropractor and on your first visit they give you an adjustment you should look elsewhere. A good one will do a thorough physical examination and take x-rays or send you out for x-rays, then create a plan for your care.
I have a permanent back injury and have received chiropractic care for most of my life. It allows me to function, and when I’ve gone without for a while, my back went out.
Meanwhile, doctors have not been helpful at all at least on this issue. When I was injured I was told to stay off my feet, but as I didn’t have servants, that wasn’t practical. I also got some massage by someone who didn’t know what he was doing.
Doctors frequently prescribe surgery, which often doesn’t turn out well, or painkillers that have serious side effects, and are best avoided if practical.
Chiro has also helped with other issues. I’ve gotten good advice on lifestyle issues such as specific forms of exercise and nutrition which doctors get little training in.
I’m not anti doctor and I like mine. But it’s good to have a healthcare team with each working within their expertise, and for the patient to be informed enough to make intelligent decisions.
I will chime in from Canada.
I worked at a fairly well ranked public university. Not top tier globally, but a major university with a good reputation nationally.
A chiropractic program from the US wanted to set up on campus, paying for everything. Basically just a tenant on the campus. The benefit to the university was their plan would also renovate the stadium area.
The science faculty in the biomedical areas flipped their lids and launched an epic battle to kill the plan.
This was despite the fact that this chiro school is considered one of the more science-based programs that basically graduate physiotherapists with a fancy title and a greater willingness to do manipulations. There are some chiro programs that are more faithful to the founder of chiropractic who, iirc, had the discipline revealed to him in a dream or some similar origin story. These programs tend to be less evidence based and are more likely to be accused of straying into quackery.
So yeah, in my experience, Chiro schools aren’t welcome at major universities because their scientific basis isn’t strong enough for the science profs.
That’s not to say chiropractic school is particularly easy – you need to know anatomy really well, for example. Just that the treatments they teach aren’t demonstrated to be effective and the risks of treatment are seen as too high by those who practice conventional medicine.
I have gone to Chiropractor‘s for an outrageous migraine and after an adjustment 20 minutes later, it was gone. I had fallen down and I was having weakness in my right arm, one adjustment, and instantly I had my strength back chiropractors are a blessing, and I feel so sad that the people in other countries might not have access to this.
Lobbyists did this for the field years and years ago.
It’s a fake profession inhabited by quacks. Any school that teaches it should be shut down.
Every time chiropractors come up in real life or online I can’t resist mentioning that the guy who invented it said he learned it from a ghost.
It’s lucrative
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> how do universities allow
They don’t.
What’s your zodiac sign?
Chinese medical practitioners are also called “Doctors” (I’ll be downvoted for this)
Nothing compares to Rand Paul being a Doctor, though …
I’m still very interested in all that
In the US, Palmer College of chiropractic in Iowa, is, or used to be, considered the best school of chiropractics.
My husband’s family has several chiropractors in it. One of the guys is really nice, but his wife is working the “my husband is a doctor” angle as hard as she can! Now they’re only child is a chiropractor. She married a guy she met in chiropractic school, so there are three doctors in the family!
Cue your feelings of inadequacy!
They OUR doctors, of chiropractic, not medical doctors. Just like your veterinarian is the doctor, the doctor of veterinary medicine!
I don’t know what you’re talking about – there is plenty of evidence supporting the health benefits of chiropractic care. Maybe you are confusing it with osteopathy? I think the bad reputation comes from the fact that many so-called chiropractors have only done a weekend course and now call themselves doctors. But proper chiropractic is an evidence-based practice that can offer significant health benefits. I’ve experienced this myself: I went from doctor to doctor with back pain, and nothing helped until I tried chiropractic treatment. If it were just a placebo, why did it work with the chiropractor but not with the doctors?
Honestly, I wish I did. It’s 2nd hand information from two different sources who are chiropractors. Both mentioned it at different times and situations, that was what struck me as interesting.
Chiropractic “medicine” is one of the biggest scams going. If it really worked by fixing the problem, by do people feel they have to go as often as every week? And don’t get me started on how dangerous it is to crack someone’s neck!!!
I am a chiropractor, and this assumption that there is no science to back up any of the interventions chiropractors use is misleading. I’ve been practicing for 20 years, and I have published two indexed peer-reviewed papers, and I was very happy with my education. Of course applying to real life (like anything), takes continued lifelong education but the impact I’ve had on the tens of thousands of patients over the last few decades has been nothing short of remarkable. As an aside, the reason I chose to become a chiro, was because in university I shadowed/interviewed as many health practitioners as I could, and the chiro was the only one who was happy. I found that really profound.
The thing about chiropractic care is they dress it up to seem equivalent to physical therapy but the core believe is that spinal manipulation cures illness.
(It doesn’t)
Some colleges have full degrees based on religion.
Anyone that shit talks chiropractors probably hasn’t had one help them.
Saved my back a few years ago when regular doctors didn’t have an answer other than pain medication and stretch.
1 adjustment, and I could feel a world of difference.
Don’t ever question this in chiropractor school or the instructor will run up to you and use his clicking device on your head to click the hell out of you for questioning his quackery.
Chiropractic schools are accredited by the Council on Chiropractic Education which is recognized by the Council for Higher Education Accreditation. A certain amount if classes have to be taught by PhDs and the science classes range from anatomy and histology to neurosciences and microbiology. You can look at individual schools curriculum for more details. Chiropractic is influenced by research from The Journal of Manipulative and Physiological Therapeutics, Spine and the Journal of Chiropractic and Manual Therapies which isn’t US based but some of the best research is being done outside of the U.S. now. Historically it’s influenced by Waddell, Vlemming so biomechanics is a keystone and not pharmacology or cellular biology. Especially for U.S. standards, go to the National Board of Chiropractic Examiners since their is a big part of the standardized testing and licensing for U.S. trained chiropractors if you want more info.
Many small scale studies have shown that it is beneficial for back and neck pain. If you have chronic back or neck pain, it is beneficial to have non pharmaceutical options.
Money.
If they do teach it or have a class it’ll be linked with Myotherapy or something medically.
Otherwise it’ll be a private institution.
Homoeopathy and naturopathy are still taught as well.
So is Chinese medicine.
There’s two reasons:
1:) How do you KNOW these things are invalid? You do research. We’re definitely at a point where these things are all well and truly debunked. But even that process required people to do research.
2:) It’s no different to religion, as long as it’s not overtly and deliberately causing harm, and there are checks and balances in place if practitioners do cause harm, then who are we to decide what people believe? People have a right to believe stupid things.