This section is compiled by Frank M. Painter, D.C. Send all comments or additions to:
Frankp@chiro.org
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The Safety of Chiropractic
Millions of patients love their chiropractor and appreciate our unique and safe approach to recovery from pain. Significant research suggests that chiropractic is the safest approach available for relief from neck pain, back pain, headaches and other “musculo–skeletal” complaints. Lets review that research, and discuss how modern medicine has contributed to the Myth that chiropractic care is dangerous.
The Cost-effectiveness of Chiropractic
The cost advantages for chiropractic for matched conditions appear to be so dramatic that Pran Manga, the aforementioned Canadian health economist, has concluded that doubling the utilization of chiropractic services from 10% to 20% may realize savings as much as $770 million in direct costs and $3.8 billion in indirect costs. [20] When iatrogenic effects [yet to be discussed] are factored in, the cost advantages of spinal manipulation as a treatment alternative become even more prominent.
Patient Satisfaction With Chiropractic
For matched back pain conditions, patient satisfaction with chiropractic treatment has invariably been shown to be significantly greater than that with conventional management [administered by a primary care physician, an orthopedist, or an HMO provider]. Read the results of a variety of studies right here!
The Chiropractic Antitrust Suit ~ Wilk, et al vs. the AMA, et al
For those who have forgotten, or for those who never knew, organized medicine spent decades and millions of dollars trying to discredit and destroy chiropractic. Today the vestiges of this surpression are still found on fringe web sites which ignore the body of peer-reviewed research supporting chiropractic care. Explore the depths of medical arrogance in this in-depth review of the Wilk case.
The History of Chiropractic
This from the best European Chiropractic School web site: “A prolific reader of all things scientific, DD realised that although various forms of manipulation had been used for hundreds if not thousands of years, no-one had developed a philosophical or scientific rationale to explain their effects. DD Palmer's major contribution to the health field was therefore the codification of the philosophy, art and science of chiropractic, wrested from a background of systematic study in anatomy and physiology. The art of chiropractic began with the very first spinal adjustment and developed from it.”
Chiropractic and Children: It's All About Function
International Chiropractic Pediatric Association
What can chiropractic do for your child? Why do millions of parents bring their children to Doctors of Chiropractic every year? Is it only for highly dramatic health conditions? Is it only for when my child is hurting? Not at all!! Chiropractic's purpose is to remove interferences to the natural healing power running through the body.When that power is unleashed the healing that results may be profound.
Chiropractic Training vs. Medical Training Chiropractic Education Requirements
Chiropractic colleges require a minimum of four academic years of professional resident study (not less than 4,200 clock hours), including clinical experience under strict supervision, preceded by a minimum of two years of college work with a curriculum concentrated in the biological and basic sciences, and clinical disciplines. The remaining two years emphasize practical or clinical studies dealing with the diagnosis and treatment of disease with approximately half the time spent in college clinics.
Synopsis of Chiropractic Research
American Chiropractic Association
Numerous studies throughout the world have shown that chiropractic treatment, including manipulative therapy and spinal adjustment, is both safe and effective. The following are excerpts from a few of the more recent studies.
New Study Compares Chiropractic and Medical Education
Coulter et al. studied the curriculum of six schools in California, Iowa, and Texas–– one chiropractic college and one medical school for each state. According to their methods, comparisons were drawn by examining course directories, syllabi, outlines and notes, as well as timetables, lectures, seminars, practicals, and rounds.
Is Chiropractic Less Costly Than Medical Care?
J Manipulative Physiol Ther 1993 (Jun); 16 (5): 291–299
Miron Stano, PhD, Oakland University, conducted a study comparing the health-care costs for chiropractic and medical patients with neuromusculoskeletal conditions. The database he used came from the records of MEDSTAT Systems, Inc., a health benefits management consulting firm which processes insurance claims for many of the country's largest corporations.
This June 1993 Journal of Manipulative and Physiological Therapeutics study involved 395,641 patients Results over a two-year period showed that patients who received chiropractic care incurred significantly lower health care costs than did patients treated solely by medical or osteopathic physicians.
Blue Cross Lumbago Study Demonstrates Chiropractic's Cost-effectiveness
When sorted by the average cost per episode, chiropractic is more cost-effective than anesthesiology; neurosurgery; neurology; registered physical therapy; orthopedic reconstructive surgery; physical medicine and rehabilitation; and rheumatology. The majority of chiropractic charges were associated with the basic office-treatment-related services performed. Eighty-nine percent of the chiropractic charges were for services related to the treatment, while only 45 percent of the family practice costs were related to treatment of the condition. The remainder of the costs were for expensive diagnostics. For each 100 episodes, the chiropractor provided 265 modalities. For each 100 episodes, the registered physical therapist provided 885 modalities: over three times as many units of physical therapy provided by RPTs than chiropractors. This is a cost that has to be globally charged to the family practice providers, since patients cannot access RPTs without a referral from a medical doctor.
Does Early Joint Trauma Lead to Osteoarthritis?
Annals of Internal Medicine 2000; 133(5) Sept 5: 321–328
This page describes the increased risk of oateoarthritis following trauma, then reveals that surgery also increases that risk, and goes on to suggest that those risks can be reduced with
conservative chiropractic care.
An Explanation of Spinal Anatomy
Our arms, legs, chest, and head all attach to the spine. And the spine affects and is affected by every movement we make. No back problem can be isolated from how the rest of our body functions. Because of this interdependence, only by understanding the whole
body and how movements affect the spine can we approach back problems. This article will describe the basic spinal structure and how the intricate web of bone, tissue, and muscle maintains the basis for your ability to move through life.
A Parents Guide to Chiropractic
Chiropractic is a conservative and natural healing art and science that concentrates on keeping people well. While chiropractic is an American science over 100 years old, its wellness practices have stood the test of time--dating back to spinal manipulations first used by Hippocrates, the Father of Healing, in the 4th Century B.C.
Chiropractic is a conservative and natural healing art and science that concentrates on keeping people well. While chiropractic is an American science over 100 years old, its wellness practices have stood the test of time--dating back to spinal manipulations first used by Hippocrates, the Father of Healing, in the 4th Century B.C.
The Chiropractic Oath
In accordance with the law of nature, that law which God has prescribed to all men; and in consequence of my dedication to getting the sick well by the application of that law, I promise and swear to keep, to the best of my ability and judgement, the following oath:
What the Government says about Chiropractic
Chiropractic as a Professional Choice
Occupational Outlook Handbook 2000-2001
U.S. Department of Labor
Bureau of Labor Statistics
Chiropractors, also known as doctors of chiropractic or chiropractic physicians, diagnose and treat patients whose health problems are associated with the body’s muscular, nervous, and skeletal systems, especially the spine. Chiropractors believe that interference with these systems impairs the body’s normal functions and lowers its resistance to disease. They also hold that spinal or vertebral dysfunction alters many important body functions by affecting the nervous system and that skeletal imbalance through joint or articular dysfunction, especially in the spine, can cause pain.
"Chiropractic in the United States: Training,
Practice, and Research"
AHCPR Publication No. 98-N002
December 1997
One hundred years ago, the founder of the chiropractic profession, D. D. Palmer, reportedly used spinal manipulation to restore a deaf janitor’s hearing. A series of events following this dramatic incident ultimately led to the establishment of what is now one of the largest health care professions in the United States. From its beginnings, this new profession eschewed more invasive treatments in favor of spinal adjusting (or manipulation) as its central approach to care. During much of its first century of existence, chiropractic was shunned by the medical profession and remained on the fringe of mainstream health care. In fact, as recently as 1980, the American Medical Association’s Principles of Medical Ethics proscribed any associations between physicians and chiropractors or other "unscientific practitioners."
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D.D. Palmer, the Father of Chiropractic
B.J. Palmer, the Developer of Chiropractic
Three generations of Palmers
D.D., David, and B.J.
David Palmer and Friend...This is my all-time favorite!
Thanks to the Palmer Archives for permission to reproduce these pictures!
