What will a chiropractor really do for me?
Posture, autism, chakras: The back-cracking alternative therapists have offered to help with a galaxy of conditions. But different chiros offer different cures.
Origin: Joints and Jesus
Chiropractic has just about the most unique origin out of any therapy.
It began when Daniel David Palmer received intuitive messages about a new back cure, like the spiritualists who were popular in his day. Spiritualists believed intuition came from ghosts, God, or Christ.
One theory of why he called this new, divined therapy ‘chiropractic’ is because chi rho are the first two letters of ‘Christ’ in Greek. This is a whole thing. The logo of the Catholic Church, and even the emperor Constantine, was the Chi-rho, the two letters overlapping each other.
But these days it’s attributed to the Greek words for hand(cheir) and practical (praktikos).
Because I love puns, I choose to believe it’s both.
Recently in Canada, high ranking members of the Chiropractic College lost their standing and were banned from making claims about what it can do. This is because it’s not uncommon for chiropractors to tell people that chiropractic can ‘cure’ autism, ADD and other axis conditions.
Speaking as someone with autism, who’s gone deep with research, there is no cure. Yes, autism starts in a gene (SHANK3 of Chromosome 22 to be exact) [1], but that mutation probably happens in the womb and not a moment before or after.
You can work on the underdeveloped parts of an autistic brain by doing the thing they’re there to do, like socialise or think abstractly or lose yourself in the emotion of some art — all strictly in a way you enjoy. But there’s no cure because every brain reacts a little differently to the autism genome mutation.
It’s the same for just about every condition diagnosed by a psychologist.
But my chiro is really good, and never says that they’re fixing something other than my back
Well that’s great. To their credit, having a nice posture is a key to other types of wellbeing. We still don’t know many, but we know life with good posture feels easier[2]. So you’ll probably come out feeling better psychologically.
But my chiro is really good, says they can cure autism and they’re right about everything else
Having your bones cracked feels incredible. And if you have an agreement with your chiro that they’re going to adjust something spiritual like your aura or luck, that’s okay.
A lot of publications that push you to ask questions have a problem with that stuff, but you can make your own decisions, right? And people who offer spiritual services almost always believe in them.
It’s your money, you did your homework and now you have a chiropractor. Sure, there’s always more research to do. Sure, playing the what-if game with the money you spend is a fun and profitable exercise. And you’re on top of it, right?
There is another factor worth knowing: People into alternative therapies tend to have less money than others [3]. If you spend some time writing down the other cures available, with an open mind toward everything, it’ll be a huge favour to the person who depends on you most — you.
We know that brain conditions can’t be cured with spine manipulation, and spiritual therapies like Reiki aren’t permanent cures (otherwise you wouldn’t have to keep getting them), but it’s always your choice. The claim horrifies me, because it gives complete reassurance to people and their parents, which means they stop looking for ways to treat their condition. Then some of the bits that were giving them trouble remain.
That’s why the homework never ends. There’s always more to know.
My chiropractor wants to crack my child (or: I am a child and the chiro wants a go cracking me)
They’re still developing. Chiropractic is still out in the Wild West, lawless and experimental. That’s why children have had their necks broken when chiropractors work on them [4]. Child bones can’t handle the things that adult bones can.
This is a huge controversy. If you’re thinking of getting your kid alternative therapy, it helps to do more research. Not just from a chiropractor — they may be a beautiful person, but they have financial skin in the game. Not just from a hardcore chiro patient — they may be beautiful, but they have spiritual skin in the game.
Find the other side of the debate and let it make you stronger. In the meantime, you have to admit, it sounds pretty satisfying …
And if you liked that, you might enjoy more knowledge from Disspoken.
Why antivaxxers still exist (and how we can stop them doing harm)
Conspiracy and Conditions: Meet the Flat Earth founders
Footnotes:
[2] Can Good Posture Help Mental Health? — Psychology Today
[3] Alternative medicine as cost saver
[4] Call for age limit after chiropractor breaks baby’s neck — Sydney Morning Herald
