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Orthopedics and Health

Chiropractors, back manipulation

Priests, virgins, tame bears and chiropractors

By Dr. W. Gifford Jones

May 24, 1992

Where can you obtain an unbiased opinion about chiropractors? Some physicians will say chiropractors manipulate your mind not your back. They contend chiropractors mislead the public into believing that manipulation of the spine can cure anything from diabetes, to bed-wetting to the common cold. And no chiropractor is going to admit he's leading his patients astray. So why not ask someone trained in both specialties? And if a little squeeze was good for Captain Cook, it may also be good for you!

Dr. Scott Haldeman is Associate Professor of Neurology at The University of California and Adjunct Professor at Los Angeles Chiropractic College. Haldeman admits that when he trained at The Palmer College of Chiropractic, medical doctors had little respect for chiropractors. He claims this has changed. Research now proves what many people have known all along. Manipulation can and does relieve many cases of acute back pain.

Massage and manipulation are the two oldest remedies practiced by man. Hippocrates treated spinal deformities by attaching patients to a ladder and shaking them. Ambroise Pare',the famous French surgeon, wrote about spinal manipulation. Priests, virgins and tame bears have trampled on sufferers backs in an effort to relieve pain. And Captain Cook was squeezed by Tahitian women in 1777 to treat his sciatica!

Dr. Haldeman writes that in July 1991 the Rand Corporation issued a report by a distinguished panel of physicians, osteopaths and chiropractors about spinal manipulation. Their conclusion? Manipulation was particularly helpful in the treatment of back pain of two to three weeks duration.

In 1989 the British Medical Journal reported a clinical study that showed spinal manipulation was more effective than traditional traction and physical therapy.

What is spinal manipulation? Haldeman maintains that, contrary to popular belief, there is no single technique. But in general, manipulation involves pushing on the back or spine. This pressure pushes spinal joints beyond their normal position.

Professor Haldeman says the most common approach is what's called ,"specific short-lever, high velocity spinal adjustment". It's a sudden high-velocity thrust delivered to one of the vertebrae.

How does it work? The rationale is that this thrust causes the sudden stretching of a shortened ligament or muscle, increasing its range of motion. There's also evidence that massage and manipulation causes muscles to relax.

Another theory suggests that manipulation stimulates receptors in the nerves surrounding joints. This increases pain tolerance. More recent research indicates that manipulation releases beta-endorphins into the circulation which combat pain.



Haldeman's next point interested me. Several years ago I struggled to surgery for several weeks suffering from acute back pain. One night a technician set up a system of pulleys at home to provide some traction. The only thing it accomplished was to pull me off the bed! At that point I'd gladly have accepted a Tahitian squeeze or a tame bear! I should have seen a chiropractor. Haldeman reports that a long-lever manipulative thrust can reduce pain almost immediately.

However not all patients are lucky enough to walk home without pain after one treatment. But the consensus is that manipulation usually results in a decrease of pain within the first two to three weeks.

Professor Haldeman lists four specific problems that drive most people to a chiropractor. Patients with severe pain who have no idea why it's happened. Pain in the back or neck from either a fall or injury. Neck and back pain related to occupational stress. Finally an ache that starts in the spine and spread to the head, often including a migraine.

A word of caution. Back pain that is associated with numbness, loss of sensation or weakness in a leg may be due to nerve injury. Here, manipulation must not be done until further investigation is carried out.

Another warning. Be realistic about how long you should continue treatment. If there is no improvement within four weeks it's most likely time to stop. It's also time to consider discontinuing treatment if your symptoms have subsided. However Haldeman claims some patients do benefit from a maintenance program which includes periodic adjustments.

I couldn't agree more with Haldeman that the best way to circumvent both medical practitioners and chiropractors is to control your weight and to make exercise a weekly routine. As The Earl of Derby remarked in 1873,"Those who do not find time to exercise will have to find time for illness".


W. Gifford-Jones M.D is the pen name of Dr. Ken Walker graduate of Harvard. Dr. Walker's website is: Docgiff.com

My book, �90 + How I Got There� can be obtained by sending $19.95 to:

Giff Holdings, 525 Balliol St, Unit # 6,Toronto, Ontario, M4S 1E1

Pre-2008 articles by Gifford Jones
Canada Free Press, CFP Editor Judi McLeod