Healthy Living: The Seven Modalities

                       

 

       Modality  No. 2: Chiropractic

Just like on Halloween, the pertinent question when seeing a chiropractor is "trick or treat?" Unlike Halloween, going to a chiropractor is more of a mixed bag of tricks and treats. Yet, chiropractors are second only to dentists as the most frequently used non-physician primary health providers. Spinal manipulation, which forms the foundation of chiropractic care, has been used medicinally for >2000 years. Chiropractic focuses on the relationship between the musculoskeletal structure (primarily spine) and body function (as coordinated by the nervous system), and how this relationship affects the preservation and restoration of health and balance within the body. How has a modality that has been around for so long and that clearly has benefit for multiple medical issues (spinal issues, headaches, joint conditions to name a few) become such a hit or miss proposition?

It is important to take a quick look at the history of chiropractic in the US to understand how it came to what it is today. The first systematized, widely recognized school of US chiropractic was opened in 1895 by DD Palmer. Interestingly, one-third of students in 1895 were physicians (MDs). Over time, the collegial relationship between MDs and chiropractors fractured under the stress of turf wars and the competition for legitimacy in the US medical system. The MDs clearly won this war and marginalized chiropractors. The chiropractor's displeasure with marginalization culminated in a successful antitrust lawsuit in the 1970s for systemic bias brought against the American Medical Association (MD association) by the chiropractic profession. There are MDs (like my father) who were trained during the 1960s d still hold onto old biases even today. To make matters worse, chiropractic is generally not taught as US medical schools. read complete article on web blog

Anthony D. Puopolo II, MA, MD