Posted 3/22/2006 05:43:00 PM by Douglas

I'm not a big fan of chiropractors. It seems to me that people feel better if they go twice weekly and get "something done" by someone promoting themselves as a doctor. But now it looks like someone has some evidence, as tenuous as it is, and that my assumptions appear to be correct.

The researchers said they looked at all studies evaluating the benefits of spinal manipulation for period pain, colic, asthma, allergy and dizziness - as well as back and neck pain up to 2005.

It was found the data did not show spinal manipulation was effective for any condition - except for back pain where it is superior to sham manipulation, but not better than conventional treatments.

The researchers said that, as spinal manipulation had been linked to mild side effects in around half of patients, such as temporary stiffness, and - much more rarely - strokes brought on by damage to the vertebral artery in the back, it was not something which should be used instead of other therapies.

As much as I hate them, chiropractors are not alone in this. All medicine is derived from empirical evidence and treatments that are developed by way of "this worked, that didn't." That still doesn't absolve chiropractics of its main deviation from even conventional medicine: the cure. Practically all medicine is predicated on the belief that if you do this, you'll get better, not "you've got to show up here every month (or week) for 'treatments' that your insurance probably doesn't cover, and the pain may go away." That's absurd. I'd much rather go and have a small oriental woman walk on my back than visit a chiropractor. There's much less of a chance of a "happy ending" at a chiropractor's office. But I digress. What did the British Chiropractic Association have to say about all this?

But in a statement, the British Chiropractic Association said it was disappointed by the study's conclusions, which it believed were based on "negative" research - other studies had come to the opposite conclusion.

"The usefulness of manipulation is that it can be added, substituted or modified as part of a package of care that provides management, pain control, advice and recognizes risks to a good recovery," it said.

Well what the hell did you expect them to say? "Yeah, our entire industry is a total sham, preying on people that want a weekly backrub from a guy in a white coat." Please. As my daddy always said (not really, but it makes for a good segway), 'don't ask a barber if you need a haircut.'