#chiropractic

[salvadorbonaparte]

I wish chiropractic was real because I bet it would feel soooo good to get my entire spine cracked like a glow stick

[3liza]

Methods: This is a retrospective cohort analysis of a 100% sample of annualized Medicare claims data on 1 157 475 beneficiaries aged 66 to 99 years with an office visit to either a chiropractor or primary care physician for neck pain. We compared hazard of vertebrobasilar stroke and any stroke at 7 and 30 days after office visit using a Cox proportional hazards model. We used direct adjusted survival curves to estimate cumulative probability of stroke up to 30 days for the 2 cohorts. Results: The proportion of subjects with stroke of any type in the chiropractic cohort was 1.2 per 1000 at 7 days and 5.1 per 1000 at 30 days. In the primary care cohort, the proportion of subjects with stroke of any type was 1.4 per 1000 at 7 days and 2.8 per 1000 at 30 days. In the chiropractic cohort, the adjusted risk of stroke was significantly lower at 7 days as compared to the primary care cohort (hazard ratio, 0.39; 95% confidence interval, 0.33-0.45), but at 30 days, a slight elevation in risk was observed for the chiropractic cohort (hazard ratio, 1.10; 95% confidence interval, 1.01-1.19).

absolutely flummoxed at this chiropractic safety study on stroke risk in chiropractic vs medical treatment in older adults referring to a 183% increase in strokes in people who went to chiropractors as a "slight elevation in risk" but this is really really really typical for chiropractic studies. i look at them a lot and they absolutely flood the publishing landscape with stuff like this, so much so that it drowns out basic science-based medicine papers called like "CHIROPRACTY: BAD???? WE CHECKED AGAIN AND THE ANSWER IS STILL YES" and i think thats fully intentional because even if your pep pep tries to go online and look this stuff up, he cant

the layman's translation here is "you are almost twice as likely to have a stroke if you go to a chiropractor for neck pain, according to this study anyway" and i looked up the authors, they all appear to be chiropractors writing for a chiropractic journal (and reporting "no conflict of interest" of course but thats not what "conflict of interest" means in this context, which is why its important to check out the backgrounds of people who write studies generally)

whats even funnier is that the chiropractic patient group may have been, as a group, less likely to get strokes anyway in the short term and it was the chiropracty that fucked them up. impossible to control for in this data and purely evil speculation on my part but still funny to think about. their stroke risk was lower than the control group when the study started, and then got worse AFTER the chiropractic treatment

i cant emphasize strongly enough this was published IN A CHIROPRACTIC MEDICAL JOURNAL. so you can imagine what their patient selection criteria and data looked like before they polished this turd

[crippled-peeper]

I'm sorry if this isn't something you specialize in, but are chiropractors a scam? I feel like you've talked about them before

For context: my friend is looking to go to a chiropractor, but I don't have faith in chiropractors' so-called "medical knowledge"

Yes. I believe it is a scam

The man who invented chiropractic adjustment claimed to have learned it from ghosts.

There is no rigorous scientific evidence to support the idea that chiropractic adjustment does anything clinically significant.

Some people swear by their chiropractors, including a famous powerlifter & bodybuilder with an absolutely FUCKED spine named Ronnie Coleman - probably one of very few ambulatory people on earth with a worse spine than me.

I think this is just proof of how very convincing and deceptive their advertizing they can be. But their benefits are, unfortunately, completely subjective and possibly even completely imagined .

That is my personal opinion on Chiropractors. I am just one man, and there are many opinions out there. I will never let a chiropractor touch my spine. They could potentially do more damage with no measurable external benefit.

[stormysunday98]

When you realize you made the wrong career choice.

(Part II with Ja'marr incoming...)

[lilaartista]

The Support Within Us

Acrylic on canvas.

BIG CANVAS

[girl-of-ink]

Fighting with chiropractors on Facebook isn't enough; I need to start killing them

[leasthaunted]

Episode 146: Back Crack Quack

This time Cody and Garth take a crack at setting the story straight in regards to a fairly controversial topic. This'll be a divisive one involving: a ghost, murder, cults, conspiracies, legal precedence, strange technologies, lawsuits, severe bodily injury, a whole lot of money, and just maybe some "medicine". So have a good stretch, get comfortable, and buckle up! This is a wild ride.

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Daniel David Palmer, aka "D.D." (1845-1913) "Inventor" of Chiropractic Medicine. He tried his hands at many different careers early in his life, including as a "Magnetic Healer" and Osteopath. In 1895, he claimed that the spirit of deceased physician named Dr. Jim Atkinson told him how to cure people of illness and malady through the use of his hands, and manipulating the spine. After claiming to cure a man of his deftness (he did not) by striking him in the back of the neck, per the spiritual instructions from the ghost doctor, D.D. had an idea: What if 95% of all health problems can be solved by cracking a person's back or joints?

The skills taught to D.D. by the ghost of Atkinson was given a name, Chiropractic. From the Greek for "Hand Practice". He used the story of curing the deaf man, who for the record was never deaf, as a way to advertise his skills. With his son B.J. he opened The Palmer College of Chiropractic in Davenport Iowa. The College would teach other people how to be chiropractors and spread the word of D.D.'s miracle skill. (Note the radio tower in the background of this postcard. The College owned two radio stations, WHO and WOC on which they broadcasted pro chiropractic advertising and media along with music, news, and sports.)

B.J. Palmer (1882-1967). Son of D.D., and his first student. It was BJ who really saw the financial potential of Chiropractic. He viewed it as strictly a business. D.D. however, maintained that it was a spiritual and almost religious thing. This disagreement on how Chiropractic would be handled caused a split between father and son...

The "sacred" text of the Palmer School, Philosophy of Chiropractic.

A classroom of Chiropractic students. ca. Early 1900's. The college was turning out thousands of chiropractors a year. They would then go out into the world to practice and in turn inspire others to come to Davenport Iowa and become chiropractors themselves. Business was good.

Soon Chiropractors came under fire from the American Medical Association, state, and federal regulation. Chiropractic was not recognized as actual medicine, or at least that chiropractors were not doctors. Also, they were practicing medicine without a license. D.D. himself was arrested and spent 17 days in jail before paying a fine and being released. At this time D.D. began writing about organizing chiropractic as a religion in order to acquire a religious exemption to the requirement for a medical license.

"... we must have a religious head, one who is the founder, as did Christ, Muhammad, Jo. Smith, Mrs. Eddy, Martin Luther and other who have founded religions. I am the fountain head. I am the founder of chiropractic in its science, in its art, in its philosophy and in its religious phase" -D.D. Palmer

It seems that Chiropractic was heading in a very culty direction.

In 1913, during a homecoming parade for the chiropractic college, D.D. Palmer was struck by a car which was driven by his son B.J. D.D. survived the incident, but died a few weeks later. His cause of death was listed as "Typhoid Fever" but on his death bed D.D. made it clear that he blamed his son. Going so far as to say, "It was D.D. who did this to me."

B.J. sued in court against an associate of his father's who repeated the claim that B.J. had intentionally struck his father with the car in order to murder him and seize control of the chiropractic empire. There was conflicting testimonies. Some said that B.J. struck his father with a car, while B.J.'s supporters claimed that there never was a car involved at all, and that D.D. had merely tripped and stumbled. But now, B.J. was in control of the family business. And what a business it was!

Devices were invented and patented for use in chiropractic medicine. Including this little doo-hickey. It claims to measure the subluxation (misalignment) of the spine. In reality it is a thermometer and the needle is moving due to temperature variations.

By the 1930's the issue with the American Medical Association had only gotten worse. Chiropractors across the united states were getting arrested as an act of protest. They had the battle cry, "Go To Jail For Chiropractic!"

One chiropractor of note who was also a science fiction author and inventor, was Volney Mathison (1897-1965).

In 1950, he attended a lecture given by another science fiction author and friend. The Speaker was lecturing about his new scientific religion and how humans have a spiritual energy within themselves. This made sense to Mathison since as a chiropractor he believed in the power of D.D. Palmer and the spiritual aspects of chiropractic. He was inspired to build a device that could detect this energy, and maybe use it in his chiropractic practice.

This was the E-Meter. And the speaker who was giving the talk that inspired him?

L. Ron Hubbard! And that scientific religion? That's right! Scientology and Dianetics.

Mathison shared his invention with Hubbard who quickly made it a core componant of his new religion. For the record, the E-Meter itself was not a new invention at all. Mathison just stole the earlier Wheatsone Bridge, which was invented in 1833, and is merely a circuit that detects electrical resistance. Volney Mathison, chiropractor, inventor- would be an early convert into the church of scientology. And this would not by any means be the end of the connection between chiropractic and scientology…

In 1976 chiropractor Dr. Chester A. Wilk filed a lawsuit against the American Medical Association under the auspices of The Sherman Antitrust Act of 1890.

In the early 1970's The Church of Scientology carried out Operation Snow White which to date is the largest infiltration of government agencies by a non government organization. Scientologists were placed in all levels of employment in various US Government agencies to spy and collect information about the government that could be used for the benefit of the church. One such sub operation was Operation: AMA Doom. In Operation: AMA Doom, scientologists gained access to the headquarters of The American Medical Association as secretaries, data clerks, and cleaning staff. They stole and or copied private documents about the workings of the association as well as medical files of individuals. They uncovered that until 1974 The AMA had a committee on "Quackery" that was actively monitoring Chiropractic with the addressed goal of "hindering or destroying it."

This information was given to Dr. Wilk by an operative codenamed: Sore Throat. Wilk lost the trial. The jury felt they could not decide if legally chiropractic was legitimate or not.

In 1983, Wilk appealed. And in 1987 he won in the seventh circuit court of appeals.

It was decided by the judge that as the law is written, yes, the American Medical Association had violated the Sherman Antitrust Act by conspiring to stifle competition in the form of Chiropractic Medicine. This court case is why today most insurance plans will cover Chiropractic. But what was in it for The Church of Scientology? Precedent. By using chiropractors to bring this suit, it set legal precedent that could in turn protect The Church of Scientology. This was their plan all along. To use chiropractic as a pawn in their own chess game against regulation.

Today Chiropractic is the third largest branch of the American Healthcare Industry. In fact Chiropractic is a very powerful political lobby that makes significant political donations.

In an AARP article on medical insurance fraud within the Chiropractic field, it was found that, "Health insurance fraud costs the U.S. economy an estimated $36.3 billion annually, according to the Coalition Against Insurance Fraud, an advocacy group comprising government agencies, insurance organizations, district attorneys, consumers and others. " The largest source of this fraud? Chiropractic.

Health Care Fraud Exposed After Patient’s Suspicious Death

A chiropractor’s office stole from Medicare for years

And yes, people have died from Chiropractic. It is actually a very dangerous thing to try and manipulate a person's spine. A quick internet search will easily reveal a long list of documented deaths directly caused by chiropractic procedures.

In Summation: Chiropractic makes dubious claims that medical science cannot corroborate or support. Scientific evidence has shown that the results of chiropractic intervention can be explained through placebo effect, or the positive effects of massage that is part of the treatments. However sublaxation of the spine has never been medically documented in the way that Chiroractic claims. Also, it came from a conman talking to ghost, starting a pseudo cult of personality, who then was possibly murdered by his son. It then became inexplicably intertwined with The Church of Scientology, has killed people, has caused irreparable physical harm to people, and is one of the leading causes of medical insurance fraud. In short, it ain't all it's cracked up to be.

GARTH'S CORNER!! GARTH'S CORNER!! GARTH'S CORNER!!

On example of cult owned and operated radio stations is KVAN from Arizona. It is owned and operated by the Global Community Communications Alliance. The founder of the cult and radio station and originator of CosmoPop, Gabriel of Urantia, died in August 2025 and in this interview author Joseph L. Flatley talks about his book on Gabriel and the impact he had on Arizona.

Controversial spiritual leader Gabriel of Urantia died. He leaves a troubled legacy in Arizona

An infamous Arizonan passed away earlier this month. “Gabriel of Urantia” founded a movement he called the Global Community Communications A