So I stopped by a chiropractor's office today (dialup warning) [View All]

[Orrex]

It was for business, rather than for any spine-related maladies. However, as soon as I stepped through the door, I saw a big dry-erase board with the following warning hand-scrawled on it: "Do you know what's in a vaccine?" On a table nearby was a stack of photocopies of the following image (I grabbed one):


The next thing I noticed was the too-loud music blaring from a CD player near the reception desk. To my considerable astonishment, it was Christian "Praise" music. I confess that this defied my previous belief that Zamfir and assorted New Age tunes are the official music of the chiropractic profession. But I heard the familiar ditties "How Great Thou Art" and "Our God in an Awesome God" while I was waiting to speak with the receptionist.

So I concluded my business and exited the office, and only then did I look at the back of the photocopied sheet. Here it is:


You will note that this document claims that spinal misalignments are responsible for--among other things--colds, hay fever, hardening of the arteries, acidosis, swollen ankles, and a host of other surprising ailments.

What the fuck?!? How the hell can an actual, practicing medical facility distribute such false information? If a conventional physician made similarly baseless claims--in print, no less--she'd be banished from the medical profession. Yet the photocopied images are freely available online, so one can only conclude that the belief is not isolated to one chiropractor's office north of Pittsburgh.


Incidentally, in the parking lot some guy had set up a hand-painted wooden sign asking "Unhappy with Dr. Smith's Adjustments? Let's talk." I'd really like to hear this guy's story, but unfortunately he wasn't there at the time; the sign was propped against an empty lawn chair. I'll be heading back that way next week, and I plan to see if he's returned.


I'm tempted to post about all of this in the Healthscare Lounge, if only to learn how misaligned vertebrae are to be blamed for eczema and influenza.


Or am I being too left-brained about all of this?