rbrice1981

I feel for you too. My family is riddled with bad backs. My aunt, mother, father, 3 of 4 sisters, 1 of 2 brothers, grand parents (all) have a bad back. Those of us fortunate few who aren't too bad off are generally the ones who are more health conscious. that is to say we eat healthier, sleep regularly, and undergo chiropractic spinal maintenance. I was in an MVA in 99 and had a very minor bulge of c5/6. as a result, i had sharp pain btwn shoulder blades. I underwent chiropractic care (weekly at first, then monthly as maintenance) and it's 100% improved. I still have pain if I have head forward for a long time (reading, typing, etc.). I'm such a believer that I became a chiropractor and went directly into school that summer and graduated this summer! Now I get adjusted weekly because I have a trade off w/ a local chiro here in IL. Have you given it a try? There are some good chiropractors, some great ones, and then some who are ... well ... just there. If you need a referral, there are recognitions etc. that I can search for if given a zip code. My good friend, who is also a doctor of chiropractic in MO, is married to a nurse. All I can say is that the ambidexterity and upper body strain you go through puts you at a very high risk for back problems. Her only problem now being a nurse is finding a job that treats her like she deserves. Let me know if you have other questions :) BEST OF LUCK Dr. Rbrice

don't feel that you're picking on me because my point is quite clear. I said minor surgery; that includes suturing and a few other things. The point is ... scope, and other things (like titles) varies state by state.

yes, you're right. In Illinois, we're very liberal and chiropractic has a lot of freedom. In Utah, chiropractors can practice minor surgery and obstetrics. In Washington State and Michigan, they can't tell a patient to drink water, take vitamin A or even adjust bones in the extremities. Vast vast differences I think. Most states are like Illinois (or slightly more restricting). You also have your polar opposites (UT vs WA and MI). I would say that a very succinct summary would include: 1. YES, doctors of chiropractic deserve the title "doctor" and/or "physician" (either is a wonderful title to have and in my own mind COMPLETELY interchangeable; not so much in TX) 2. Drs. of Chiropractic go to more than a 3 year school (shakes his head at some of the rumors) 3. Chiropractic is multifaceted and should be respected as an equal among the healing arts professions 4. Research in Chiropractic has been demanded by the medical community; yet once submitted, there has been very little improvement on how certain people view us. I sure hope that I've done my part to educate just a few people about chiropractic and I thank you for giving me the opportunity to squash a few of the misleading rumors and erroneous falsehoods. I thank those of you who emailed/messaged me. If anyone ever has questions regarding chiropractic, please feel free to view the American Chiropractic Association's web (www.acatoday.com). Previously I had my email and www but the moderators deleted them, so if anyone eer wants to have a valid discussion, just private message me and we can go from there. Remember that it is through this education process that we learn, and it is through learning that we see progress. One thing we ALL have in common, we want to see a HEALTHIER AMERICA. So let's "git 'er dun". Dr. R. PS - don't mind the spelling; spellcheck's down!

Well, what an extemporaneous thing it would be to open up a chiropractic office without first checking your state's scope of chiropractic practice. Fortunately, neither Webster nor you hold the final on who is termed a doctor or physician. I believe the title "physician" and "doctor" are interchangeable to a limited degree as you would experience if you were to search at onelook.com (which searches many different dictionaries). When I applied to become a chiropractor in Illinois, the application process was to become a licensed chiropractic physician. Each state is different. It would appear that CO is similar; our scope simply prohibits invasive surgery, obstetrics, and prescriptive medicine. In Illinois, doctors of Chiropractic are titled both as Doctors and Physicians depending on who writes up the form. To me it makes no difference. We're portal-of-entry doctors and the trend is spreading as chiropractic research thrives. It appears the thread was not started to determine as who can leagally use the term physician. If that had been the case, chiropractors would fit that. We just can't (and wouldn't want to) use the term medical physician. Instead it was titled, "...Who deserves the title Physician?". I don't have to point you to the title I'm sure. And it was my argument to stomp the theories that Chiropractors are not title-worthy. Please don't think you stomped on my last nerve. I've reserved that nerve to third party payers. You haven't upset me nearly as much as they do on the daily. Best wishes. Doc

interesting assessments on the professions; however interesting they might be, they are neither accurate nor inclusive. i daresay that i hope that doctors of chiropractic received a bit more education and are a bit more intelligent than what this misleading mudslinging might indicate. of course, some people are bitter because doctors of chiropractic have wonderful results and are “stealing” pieces of the medical pie; however, the simple fact is that patients are becoming smarter and realizing that the solutions don’t lie in the poisons and potions offered by the medical community – great for them, bad for you. please do not misinterpret my meaning; i’m not throwing the dirt and mud back your way, i’m simply stating what is very obvious. and furthermore, i have to note that the practice of medicine *as it was meant to be* is wonderful. it’s a shame that all too often, it is practiced shamefully. instead of proper exercise, maintenance, and elimination of toxins, we’re cutting out women’s uteruses (and when i say “we’re”, i mean “you’re”). medical doctors are now simply treating as the pharmaceutical companies wish for them to treat (imagine a most entertaining puppet show and you will get the picture). so excuse me when i retort that medical doctors and nurses have no room to say nay. that being said, let’s go through the topic at hand in a logical manner. your reasoning behind doctors of chiropractic not earning the title doctor is that you think we are uneducated. however, if we look at the simplest facts, you’ll find the chiropractors win that field. let's skip to the fields of science, biology, anatomy, physical diagnosis, radiographic diagnosis, diagnostic imaging, orthopaedic (or orthopedic) diagnosis, biophysics, biomechanics, physiology – we either do as well or better in these categories. you can have your pharmacology. we’ll stick with the stuff that works for most situations. if i have someone who walks in my office with a blood pressure of 150/95, i’ll send them your way – but for conservative care on neuromusculoskeletal conditions, there is no comparison and it doesn’t matter how much you might retort. i feel that little justice on the field of chiropractic has been given so i find it my duty to set things straight. if you feel flabbergasted by the aforesaid, it's because this is a reply that defies what you know and what you might have falsely learned. i would love to invite you to email and even call if you have questions so that statements like the aforementioned are not made in true ignorance. i believe that my eight years of education were better spent learning how to become a doctor of chiropractic than becoming a medical doctor. i can pull open my files and look at people’s progress and do so with a smile on my face. what percent of the medical population is satisfied in comparison? let us see, shall we? for acute and chronic pain "patients with chronic low-back pain treated by chiropractors showed greater improvement and satisfaction at one month than patients treated by family physicians. satisfaction scores were higher for chiropractic patients. a higher proportion of chiropractic patients (56 percent vs. 13 percent) reported that their low-back pain was better or much better, whereas nearly one-third of medical patients reported their low-back pain was worse or much worse" journal of manipulative and physiological therapeutics, nyiendo et al. (2000) that’s just low back pain. and look at that? 1/3 of your patients are getting worse? isn’t the first rule to not hurt your patients? i’ll end with a succinct analogy. if you’re driving down the road and your “service engine” light comes on – do you: a. ignore it and hope it gets better? b. put masking tape over the light? c. cut the cord that feeds the light? d. take it to a mechanic, find the problem, and fix it? common sense points you to answer d. skip the “when in doubt chose c.” bologna, this just makes sense people! and on that note, i hope you all have a happy, healthy, and enjoyable life! yours truly, dr. r. proud chiropractic physician