# Whats the Straight Dope on Chiropractors?

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-straight-dope-on-chiropractors/522352>\
**Category:** Factual Questions\
**Created:** [December 23, 2009, 7:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-straight-dope-on-chiropractors/522352 "2009-12-23T19:05:48Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 2\
**Page:** 5

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**Author:** ![Mr.Excellent](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/f19dbf/32.png) [@Mr.Excellent](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mr.Excellent)\
**Post date:** [December 28, 2009, 6:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-straight-dope-on-chiropractors/522352/81 "2009-12-28T18:30:17Z")

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> [@Dinsdale](#):
>
> I’ll point out that not so long ago in my area of law chiropractors were specifically excluded from acceptible sources of medical evidence. That changed within the past 2 decades. My understanding was that there was considerable lobbying by chiros and concentrated efforts on a number of fronts to gain them access to hospitals, insurance coverage, and the like. If i get around to it, I’ll try to dig up one of the significant decisions by the 7th Cir. that I recall gave a good description of the history of chiro, and ended up finding that it was not useless (at least not as a matter of law).

Heh. In my field, they still aren’t acceptable sources of medical evidence. (Though they can give lay evidence based on observations from their sessions, and/or treatment notes.)

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**Author:** ![md2000](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/73ab20/32.png) [@md2000](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/md2000)\
**Post date:** [December 28, 2009, 7:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-straight-dope-on-chiropractors/522352/82 "2009-12-28T19:24:03Z")

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When all you have is a hammer, everything looks like a nail.

For most chiropractors, it seems, everything can be treated by manipulation or something similar, like pushing on the joint bones in the wrist or ankle. I know several people who have religiously gone to a chiropractor for their sore back or whiplash or whatever for years, without stoppping to think “should I not be getting better”? The temporary relief from a strenous strecthing or twisting seems to fool them into thinking a permanent cure is another twist away.

For real doctors, who are allowed to prescribe restricted drugs, it seems the solution of choice is the most expensive drug available, regardless of whether it is effective enough to be worth taking. If that doesn’t work, surgery is the next recourse - again, whether likely to be effective or not. Unlike chiropratics, a much much larger support industry has grown up to encourage the drug and hospital stay regimens.

There are times when drugs are called for, there are times when physiotherapy of some sort is called for, and other times when only lifestyle modification will do the trick. The problem with a lot of modern medicine, is the people paying the bills are not the ones evaluating effectiveness. The insurance company gets paid regardless; if it costs more, just up the premiums. The doctors, the hospitals, chiropractors, etc. all get paid regardless of results. The patients mistake effort for results.

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