Naprapathy and Chiropractic medicine

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Feb 21, 2004
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Two anecdotal stories:

1) Mom went to a chiropractor once and she was told to lay down on the floor and he walked on her back, making everything worse.

2) Took grandpa to an appointment once and the guy was explaining to me as he was doing his 'treatment' about energy flows and how bad posture blocks them and stuff and blah blah I wasn't really there to listen, but it sounded like a bunch of hooie.

In short, I think they're all quacks.
 
Yeah, chiropractic 'doctors' (as they style themselves) and practicing quackery. It's all made up gibberish. Never heard of naprapathy though.
 
It's not that uncommon for me to feel that some disc in the back is a bit off. Sometimes I can crack it right myself, but not in the upper area.

Anecdotal personal story: The lady that treated me cracked the upper area and neck where she found some irregularities, then she massaged some tense areas. No real hokey stuff.
 
It's all based on nonsense though. I didn't know anything about it until two of my cousins opened a practice. The first time they started talking about the healing power of energy flows that can only be corrected by bone manipulation it was a real eye-opener.
 
It's all based on nonsense though. I didn't know anything about it until two of my cousins opened a practice. The first time they started talking about the healing power of energy flows that can only be corrected by bone manipulation it was a real eye-opener.
It's a grey area in medicine/alternative medicine, but it's why I ask for others' experiences.

Here's a study abstract:
Spoiler :


Objectives: To compare naprapathic manual therapy with evidence-based care for back or neck pain regarding pain, disability, and perceived recovery. Naprapathy that is common in the Nordic countries and in some states in the United States is characterized by manual manipulations with a focus on soft and connective tissues, aiming to decrease pain and disability in the musculoskeletal system.

Methods: Four hundred and nine patients with pain and disability in the back or neck lasting for at least 2 weeks, recruited at 2 large public companies in Sweden in 2005, were included in this randomized controlled trial. The 2 interventions were naprapathy, including spinal manipulation/mobilization, massage, and stretching (Index Group) and support and advice to stay active and how to cope with pain, according to the best scientific evidence available, provided by a physician (Control Group). Pain, disability, and perceived recovery were measured by questionnaires at baseline and after 3, 7, and 12 weeks.

Results: At 7-week and 12-week follow-ups, statistically significant differences between the groups were found in all outcomes favoring the Index Group. At 12-week follow-up, a higher proportion in the naprapathy group had improved regarding pain [risk difference (RD)=27%, 95% confidence interval (CI): 17-37], disability (RD=18%, 95% CI: 7-28), and perceived recovery (RD=44%, 95% CI: 35-53). Separate analysis of neck pain and back pain patients showed similar results.

Discussion: This trial suggests that combined manual therapy, like naprapathy, might be an alternative to consider for back and neck pain patients.

http://journals.lww.com/clinicalpain/pages/articleviewer.aspx?year=2007&issue=06000&article=00007&type=abstract
 
I used to go to a chiropractor, he was great. This is not to say that he would 'cure' stuff. Think more along the lines of a personalized yoga + guided relaxation therapy. He would help me into poses, sometimes stretching, sometimes so that he could put pressure on a deep muscle or fascial spot. Sometimes there would be 'cracks' from joints, but certainly not always.

I almost always came away feeling great - placebo, stretching, quiet calm in the middle of the work day - I can't say what the exact mechanism was, but it was very pleasant and certainly worth the money I paid at the time.

I suspect that, like nutritionists or personal trainers, there is a very wide spectrum of quality. Based on what I had heard in the popular press, I would have assumed that all chiropractors believe in energy flows or chi or whatever. But this guy didn't peddle that. But that was my only experience.

Another term I hate is 'naturopathy'. Sounds to me like a manufactured word that's more marketing than substance. Like when you see those ridiculous 'supplement facts' bogus labels that are designed specifically to mimic the federally mandated 'nutrition facts' labels. Adds a false sense of official-ness to the product, when really they can put sewer water in there and call it organic tea extract :lol:
 
What's the type of 'medicine' where they take poisons and dilute them down to basically just water and it's supposed to cure everything? Homeopathy?
 
yup, homeopathy.

Here's one of my all-time favorite takedowns of homeopathy. Please listen to the entire thing for the full effect:

"I will run through the streets yelling
'It's a miracle!
Take Physics and bin it!
Water has mem'ry
And while its memory of a
Long lost drop of onion juice seems infinite,
It somehow forgets all the Poo it's had in it."


Link to video.
 
It's all based on nonsense though. I didn't know anything about it until two of my cousins opened a practice. The first time they started talking about the healing power of energy flows that can only be corrected by bone manipulation it was a real eye-opener.
I think you have think a little bit for them to really do them justice and not just go "quackery explanation --> quackery". From what I gather and as a general rule - alternative medicine based on some kind of old/ancient tradition always has some sort of ridiculous story as an explanation. But I would like to suggest that this says nothing about its actual usefulness, just about the people who came up with it, which are "primitive" people who had ridiculous explanations for everything. Doesn't mean they weren't on to something. Just that they had no clue how to properly explain it. But it is nice to have an explanation anyway.
Sort of like they also knew that the sun went up and down - from observation - and then came up with ridiculous explanations. Their observation still was correct.
 
I thought the first was a horrific misspelling of naturopathy. Still, the Wiki article seems to be based on only one source.

Anyway, I think chiropractic may have impact on bone and muscle conditions by means of mechanical manipulation. The stuff on energy lines and vitalism are clearly bogus though.
 
IMO you're much better off going to a good physical therapist.
I went there for the massage, which I needed. Both times I've been there she's gone through the vertebraes and asked if she should 'set those straight that aren't aligned'. I've agreed to it and she's cracked them. It's taken 5 min and the rest has been 35 min massage.

The question is - is the cracking good or bad? I suspect no one here believes in the American hippie stuff.
 
It works for certain things - I have successfully had chiropractic adjustments done that solved issues I was having when running.
 
Yeah, I don't know about "energy" or any of that, (I've never heard that from a chiropractor), but I felt a LOT better both times I went to one, after suffering injuries to my back from sports. The adjustments and the electro-shock done fixed me up pretty quickly.
 
I went there for the massage, which I needed. Both times I've been there she's gone through the vertebraes and asked if she should 'set those straight that aren't aligned'. I've agreed to it and she's cracked them. It's taken 5 min and the rest has been 35 min massage.

The question is - is the cracking good or bad? I suspect no one here believes in the American hippie stuff.

Not sure if the cracking works or not - I have a feeling that as long as the joint is not being moved to violently there would be little or no results over time, good or bad.

I knew someone who swore that a chiro was helping his low back, but the chiro was also having him do a lot of stretching. Likely it was the stretching that helped his back.
 
Chiropractic definitely seems like a nice excuse to touch nice female bodies, as the picture of the OP seems to imply, though you arguably need to be really desperate to become a chiropracter just for that. (Aside from the loonies who actually believe in that stuff despite having a med school degree)
 
The "science" of Chiropractic is pure BS. It's on the level believing the earth is 6000 years old. Chiropractic science believes that disease is caused by some energy force in your spine being messed up and has nothing to do with germs.

I went there for the massage, which I needed. Both times I've been there she's gone through the vertebraes and asked if she should 'set those straight that aren't aligned'. I've agreed to it and she's cracked them. It's taken 5 min and the rest has been 35 min massage.

The question is - is the cracking good or bad? I suspect no one here believes in the American hippie stuff.
Do not let them mess with your back. There's risk that they can really screw it up and it doesn't give much benefit.

What's really funny is when they do some X-ray scan to show you how messed up your back is even though they don't get training in radiology.
 
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