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Chiropractic Stroke Myth

Often the media tries to sell a story that chiropractic care and strokes are connected.  Medicine and Chiropractic have fought each other for years.  In fact Dr Wilks actually sued the AMA for what he called contain and eliminate chiropractic.  Every few years, we as Chiropractors, must deal with this false story.  Let’s break it down.

History

When Chiropractic was just getting started there was a time where the AMA told Chiropractors they should join.  This same offer was presented to Osteopaths.  Osteopaths joined medicine, however, Chiropractors did not.  Chiropractors were afraid of loosing their identity by joining.  Today I would say they were correct.  It is hard to tell if you are being seen by an MD (Medical Doctor) or a DO (Doctor of Osteopath) today.  However a DC (Doctor of Chiropractic) is differently a different experience.

Last 50 years

Dr Chester Wilks sued the AMA in 1988 and finished the lawsuit two years later.  He was able to prove that the AMA was in fact spreading falsehood about chiropractic with the goal to end chiropractic.  The damage by the AMA was already done however.  Decades of lying will not be forgotten because of one lawsuit.  As a result, after so many lies over such a long time, people begin to believe the lies.

Science

Chiropractic has entered into medical research as of late.  One of the areas researched is to debunk the lie that we are dangerous.  Let’s look at the stroke issue.  If your artery in your neck is damaged, there are two common symptoms.  The first symptom is neck pain, horrible neck pain.  The second symptom is headaches.  As a result, most of the public knows that these two symptoms are a large reason why people seek the chiropractor.  All chiropractors are trained to examine and take x-rays.  To conclude, this helps us determine if we should proceed with care.

Blame Game

Should you seek chiropractic care and already have the artery damaged, it is often blamed on the chiropractor.  Recently a researcher named Cassidy followed up on the blame game.  He noted that chiropractic could not be found a fault, rather people were already injured prior.  His work is pub-med indexed.  Here is a link.  Science continues to show chiropractic is safe.

Malpractice

If chiropractic was damages, the insurance companies would know correct?  Insurance companies will conduct their own studies and set rates occurring to the risk.  Chiropractors have some of, if not the lowest, malpractice rates of any health care provider.

MORE INFORMATION

Check out the video link above, go to our blog page, or lastly listen to our podcast.