At first glance, the article in the St. Louis Post Dispatch looks like positive publicity for chiropractic. After all, author Cynthia Gregorian states that "Medical doctors now refer patients to chiropractors. A growing number of insurance companies covers chiropractic treatments. And the Higher Learning Commission recognizes Logan College the same way as Washington University, St. Louis University and the University of Missouri."
But it doesn't take long for the underlying message of the article to bubble to the surface.
"The chiropractic discipline has had its black spots. Chiropractors once believed that a vertebral subluxation or out-of-whack spinal joint could interfere with the body's function and cause all sorts of systemic diseases," Gregorian states.
Once believed? Sadly, this writer hasn't kept abreast of the newest developments in energy medicine, or even in the chiropractic profession, which is once again embracing the original vitalistic concepts of neurologically based chiropractic.
The author managed to include the apparently obligatory anti-chiropractic statements from medical doctors such as Daniel Scodary, a neurosurgeon at North County Neurosurgery in Bridgeton who states: "I think chiropractors now understand pathology and microbiology much better. They recognize that if you have a strep infection of the throat, it needs antibiotics."
Later in the article, Scodary allows that he "refers patients who aren't good surgical candidates to chiropractors after they've exhausted all other options, including pain management and physical therapy."
Where is the "acceptance" mentioned in the headline? Is it acceptance only on a "last resort" basis, after the MDs have tried drugs, surgery, and everything else they can think of?
The article follows the same tired pattern we've seen in hundreds of articles for many years -- chiropractors are being "accepted" by the medical profession, but only if they stick to very limited areas of pain management or musculoskeletal "treatment." If they attempt to do what chiropractic is supposed to do -- that is, address neurological function by correcting subluxations -- they are still labeled quacks by the medical profession and those writers who refuse to open their eyes and minds to new ideas.
I hope everyone will stop by the Post Dispatch website and leave a comment about how YOU feel about chiropractic's role in health care. Since reporters don't ask us our opinions, we have to take the initiative to provide them wherever we can!
In Brighton, Michigan our current and future patients are actively learning that the body has the innate intelligence to heal itself and it doesn't need any help. It also doesn't need any interference! Subluxations are this interference. We stand by these researched truths and every day we work hard to help those around us understand that with subluxation the nervous system cannot work at 100%. Keep on going and keep on spreading the good word! Chiropractic is here to help and here to stay.
Posted by: Melissa Osborn | 08/19/2010 at 02:15 PM