Esther,
I love you like a sister because I know your heart is pure. But your comment regarding me: "I think it is sad though when someone makes a statement like they know everything there is to know about something and they don't." is so unlike you.
I DO know of what I speak, but usually, when offering advice, I add the "free advice is worth what you pay for it” disclaimer, although I did not in the above post. I DID, however indicate that I knew that there would be some who would disagree vehemently with my opinion. I just did not expect it to be from you. Now, I am NOT a doctor, nor have I ever claimed to be. I HAVE had the advantage all of my life of a fairly good IQ and a substantial ability to recognize quackery in any vocation, having spent my adult life as both a scientific technician and a CPA, and of lately as a curmudgeon (a crusty irascible cantankerous old person full of stubborn ideas) .
" If it looks like a duck, walks like a duck, and quacks like a duck, it usually is a duck."
Here is the first bottom line: Personal testimonials are completely worthless as a component of scientific research. For example: Before the FDA all kinds of ridiculous claims were made by believing individuals that on the face of it was superfluous. Specifically, the claim “I could digest a brick if I had my instant postum to drink with it" was a serious claim made by a serious person. Of course it was ridiculous. People have claimed to have been cured by all kinds of quack medication, and even the University of Illinois was taken in by the Laetrile cancer treatment scandal {“During 1980, movie star Steve McQueen attracted considerable attention when he was treated with Laetrile at another Mexican clinic under the supervision of William D. Kelley, a dentist who had been delicensed by the State of Texas after several brushes with state and federal law enforcement authorities. Although McQueen gave a glowing report when he began his treatment, he died shortly afterward”.} [See
http://www.quackwatch.com/01QuackeryRelatedTopics/Cancer/laetrile.html ] . (By the way, laetrile was compounded from apricot pits and its main active ingredient was CYANIDE). Many people who suffer injury to joints and their back claim miraculous treatment from chiropractors. But many people recover from such injuries without any treatment whatsoever. But having paid a chiropractor for treatment predisposes the victim to lay the accolades to the chiropractor for any improvement in their condition.
One of the favorite treatments these QUACKS love to demonstrate, other than their "subluxation of the spine" (WHAT IS THAT???), is to "ADJUST" the cervical spine.
This is among the worst things these QUACKS do as they actually CAUSE STROKES in their victims as a result.
Now for the rest of the story: PLEASE read the following articles:
http://www.chiroweb.com/archives/09/24/03.htmlhttp://www.newscientist.com/article.ns?id=dn1914http://www.mayoclinic.com/health/back-pain/SA00080http://www.rebuildyourback.com/chiropractic/stroke.phphttp://www.chirobase.org/07Strategy/complain.htmlhttp://www.pkblogs.com/amr2you/2006/03/chiropractic-treatment-with-no-benefit.htmlNow, certainly, one can find a myriad of websites that claim the advantages of chiropractic treatment. But do any of them offer clinical proof? None that I have ever seen, and I have looked.
Now look at this website:
http://luraychiro.com/chirocare.htmlThese IDIOTS claim to be able to treat: Fever
Colic
Croup
Hypertension
Poor Posture
Nervousness
Constipation
Bed-wetting
Weakness/Fatigue
Stomachaches
Sinus Problems
Loss of Hearing
Ear Infections
Arthritis
Numbness
Irritability
Headaches
Neckaches
Backaches
Sore Throat
Eye Problems
Cough
Skin Disorders
Asthma/Wheezing
Bronchitis
Frequent Colds
Poor Coordination
Poor Concentration
Arm, Hand, Shoulder Pain
Painful Joints
Hip, Leg, Foot Pain
Scoliosis
Through "Spinal adjustments"?? Why did they not include HIV and Erectile dysfunction???
Do you finally begin to see QUACK as even a remote possibility?????
In conclusion, I must note that in addition to having in my family, one of the top internal medicine specialists in the state of North Carolina, as well as his son, a top neurologist at the Mayo Clinic in Minnesota, but also a niece who is a career sports medicine practitioner in Chicago who uses massage therapy for innumerable sports injuries who ALL hold the same opinion of chiropractors as QUACKS.
Now the REAL bottom line:
Massages feel good. Properly done, they can often bring relief to sore or cramped muscles. But, even massage therapy can do harm, and in the case of chiropractors, serious harm both to your body AND to your pocketbook.
As I said before, Testimonials are WORTHLESS in scientific research and proof. There has never been (And likely never will be) any empirical proof that chiropractic ever cured or helped anyone. No MRI or any other scan has shown any improvement in anyone’s spine as a result of chiropractic treatment.
If you want to see (AND PAY) a chiropractor for treatment, that is your prerogative. But for God’s sake, don’t let him screw with your NECK!!! (Because he can kill you)
I am certain that those whose minds are made up will still disagree. That is their prerogative.
Please do not take the quote below personally, but it is one of the maxims of life that I have discovered in my 68 years, and is a Johns original thought. Use it whenever you like, but please attribute it to me..
“ The cure for ignorance is enlightenment.
Alas, there is no cure for stupidity” Johns
That is all I have to say on this subject.
