We've all heard it before: "Don't let the chiropractor treat your neck, it's dangerous and they can hurt you!", or "You should go to a real doctor because chiropractors don't know what they are doing and they can cause you to have a stroke". Those are frustrating statements because they are both false. It is hard to sit back and observe how the facts get twisted by sensationalized media reports.
First of all, chiropractors are REAL doctors. I entered chiropractic college after obtaining a 4 year degree in Biological Sciences. My chiropractic program was a 10 semester (5 year) program that I completed in 3 1/3 years by going all year long. I attended New York Chiropractic College, which is accredited by the Council on Chiropractic Education (CCE), a federally accredited agency. As a chiropractic student I completed 2,000+ hours of biology and clinical sciences, anatomy, physiology, nutrition, public health, orthopedics, neurology, pediatrics, geriatrics and other health sciences; 1000+ hours of chiropractic science: bio-mechanics, spinal analysis, manipulation, diagnostic imaging and interpretation; and 900 hours of clinical practice: patient histories, physical exams and chiropractic manipulations. As a Doctor of Chiropractic I use my knowledge to pay attention to the physiological and bio-mechanical aspects of the body including structural, spinal, musculoskeletal, neurological, vascular, nutritional, emotional and environmental relationships to restore and maintain health.
The chiropractic program that I participated in was intense, rigorous and stressful, but I feel I walked away with the knowledge that that enabled me to become a good doctor. I have become an expert of the spine. Every patient that gets treated in my office is screened for Vertebrobasilar Artery Disease (VBA) before any manipulation or chiropractic treatment is performed. This screening not only involves specific testing performed during the exam, such as specific orthopedic tests, ROM, blood pressure and listening to the pulse in the neck, but a detailed history is taken to see if the patient may be predisposed to having a stroke. The vertebral arteries are the vessels that carry blood into your head and run up both sides of the neck. When this artery is "ripped" or "torn", blood flows out rapidly causing the patient to have a stroke.
The Bone and Joint Decade 2000-2010 Task Force on Neck Pain and It's Associated Disorders analyzed 9 years of data from a population of 110 million people. They found that a vertebrobasilar artery stroke is a very rare event and that the risk of a VBA stroke following a visit to the chiropractor appears to be no different than the risk of a VBA stroke following a visit to the primary care doctor. The study goes on to say that the observed association between VBA stroke and a visit to the PCP or chiropractor is due to the fact there can be an undiagnosed tear in the vertebral artery of the patient, causing them to seek care for neck pain or headaches prior to them having the stroke. In other words, if you have a default to your vertebral artery, you have as much of a chance of having a stroke turning your head to back out of your driveway as you do seeing your chiropractor. Chiropractic does not cause the damage to the arteries. The damage is already present when these unfortunate patients go to see their doctor.
Unfortunately, popular media has sensationalized the association between chiropractic manipulation and stroke. This assertion is anything but correct. The Task Force mentions chiropractic as a suitable treatment for neck pain. Chiropractic care can help with many disorders arising from the neck including neck pain and headaches. Chiropractic is safe and yes, we are real doctors who have extensive training in the treatment and diagnosis of the spine and extremities.
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