A chiropractor posted this gem on Twitter today:
Four grotesquely false claims in four sentences*, a fine example of antivax chiro idiocy.
In addition to the blithering stupidity of claiming polio “hasn’t gone away” and in the very next sentence alleging that better sanitation eradicated it, his clean water argument is bogus. Better sanitation actually contributed to a surge in paralytic polio cases in the '40s and '50s.
Chiropractors are often the butt of ‘stupid guy’ jokes. And the one you quoted is doing nothing to remedy that.
DDT causes polio, eh? I can only imagine how proud the operators of America’s chiropractic training programs must be.
I’ve gone to two different chiropractors over extended periods that have done a great job helping my back and neck get stronger and no longer cause me pain. Because that is what chiropractors are trained to do, and can be very successful at.
Then there are those who subscribe to the belief that since nerves run through your whole body, that adjusting your spine can somehow transmit health through your entire body, and prevent or cure all sorts of ailments. They can get into total woo pseudoscience homeopathic kinds of bullshit. Thank goodness I’ve never been stuck with a person like that. But I know they’re out there. Apparently, the origin of chiropractic medicine started with that sort of nonsense, as discussed in this old thread:
Generally, a good chiropractor is really acting as a kind of physical therapist. Like a sports medicine specialist. That’s what I’ve had success with.
Yeah, I’ve heard that from others, too. The physical manipulation can be very helpful. But those chiropractors who get all mystical likely do less good than the non-woo ones.
As this this thread is about antivaxers, I didn’t want to get into a general discussion of chiropractic, but this summary and related posts are helpful.
If your chiro stays in his/her lane, stays away from babies and your neck, and doesn’t disparage science-based care, they can do some good. But I’d preferentially seek out a good physical or massage therapist over someone who claims to fix imaginary “subluxations”.
I mean, I really want THAT in my obituary!
You know that’s gonna make anti vaxxers even more sure they were right all long.
It’s Demento Donny’s pick doing this. The FDA is a political arm of MAGA now.
80% of my DPT (Doctor of Physical Therapy - fancy!) son’s teachers were chiropractors.
There’s a pertussis outbreak in my region. The one mentioned here is in a region that has several Amish communities, where immunization is not prohibited but many of them do not do it unless they’re in a situation where it’s required.
This one is closer to home for me, and we do NOT have Amish communities. It’s possible that the people were immunized, and thankfully have milder cases as a result. It can depend on the strain or clade.
[From the material you quoted.]
A connection between ‘deciding to become a chiropractor’ and ‘being anti-science’ appears to exist—at least for some. (It would be unfair to assume “for all,” of course.)
Anyway, that does tie in to this thread’s topic.