Myth #1: Chiropractors are not Real Doctors
The FACTS:
Chiropractors have the same level of education as medical doctors, and are licensed as primary health care doctors. The difference between chiropractors and medical doctors has to do with how they treat the human body. Where medical doctors rely on external chemical compounds to treat ailments, chiropractors focus on the structurally correcting the internal conditions, which causes the ailments in the first place. Because of this, chiropractic is highly effective in treating a wide range of conditions without resorting to taking drugs.
Myth #2: Chiropractic Adjustments are Dangerous
The FACTS:
This is just wrong, as a matter of fact; you are hundreds of times more likely to suffer an adverse reaction to taking an aspirin than you are from having a chiropractic adjustment. Most people don’t realize that there are more than 100,000 adverse reactions each year from taking a simple aspirin, while there are fewer than 100 adverse reactions to chiropractic adjustments. When you consider that there are over 3 million people being adjusted in one year, the risk from being adjusted is vanishing small.
Myth #3: Once you Start Chiropractic You Must Continue Forever
The FACTS:
While this is not strictly true, it is importantly to remember that ALL doctors continue to treat you for the rest of you life, at least ideally. For example, how often do you go to your dentist? Is it not true that your dentist will keep scheduling visits even when you have no tooth pain? We all learned at an early age the value of routine maintenance for our teeth, but for most of us we never learned the importance of the same type of routine maintenance for the rest of the body.
Myth #4: Medical Doctors don’t like Chiropractors
The FACTS:
For the most part there is little animosity towards chiropractors from the medical community. Maybe a few medical doctors don’t like chiropractors for one reason or another. As a matter fact more and more medical doctors and nurses are being treated by chiropractor every year. Chiropractors are now on staff at many major hospitals, the military, working at insurance companies and work side by side with medical doctors in private clinics.
Myth #5: People can Adjust Themselves by “Cracking” Their Neck or Back
The FACTS:
It would be almost impossible to adjust oneself in a way to free any fixations or correct any subluxations. Some people can get their neck or back to “pop”, but this usually only affects the segments that are not the true culprit and over time can lead to other problems. Just as you wouldn’t perform surgery on yourself, its best to leave the adjustments of your back and neck to the professional chiropractor. Even professionals cannot adjust themselves.
Myth #6: Spinal Adjustments Hurt
The FACTS:
Many patients feel instant relief immediately after their treatments, for obvious reasons patients suffering from severe neck or back pain may experience some discomfort, for most patients this in not the case, in fact most patients look forward to their chiropractic treatments.
