Met a Pediatric Chiropractor

[Tsukasa Buddha]

A Chiropractor came to a group I go to to talk about nutrition and wellness. I'm already familiar with the silliness of it and could start a thread on the usual bunk, but I could see the appeal. He was very personable and open, inviting people to come by his office, use the library of health books, etc.

But then he said, "Most people think of chiropractic as just for headaches or neck pain or back pain. But 80% of my patients are under twelve. They don't have back pain. They get help for autism and ADHD."



So I go to his website on the card he gave us, and yes, he is a Pediatric Chiropractor. Apparently, ADHD, autism and Asperger's are caused by not seeing a chiropractor as an infant >< !

Linky.

This guy turned out to exemplify every bad thing I've read about chiropracty. I was so ticked off and sad. And even worse, the group was provided by the community mental health center and he was a regular speaker.

 

[Rolfe]

Ooh! Are you following the Simon Singh case?

Rolfe.

 

[Blue Wode]

There's a chiropractor in the UK who's about to go before the General Chiropractic Council's disciplinary panel for making similar claims. You can read the story as it developed here:
http://www.internationalskeptics.com/forums/showthread.php?t=55750

Also see the BCA v. Singh thread at the top of this forum.

 

[Roboramma]

I went to a chiropractor when I was around 10 years old. She put me on a special diet that had no dairy and no wheat, and I was to drink at least 2 L of water every day*.

I ended up eating mostly fruit. 10 apples/day, the same number of oranges when available, and when they were in season I'd devour grapes whenever my parents brought them.

I don't remember eating much rice, but I do remember hating the wheat-free breads that I was given. Its just a good thing that I liked oatmeal.

She claimed to have cured someone's terminal cancer with a diet of nothing but apples, which seemed weird, but my mother, who took her five children to be treated by this "Doctor", trusted her completely.

It wasn't until my mother died of her own cancer that I started looking more critically at people like that.

*The need for this was determined through "muscle testing".

 

[CurtC]

*The need for this was determined through "muscle testing".

Was it "Applied Kenesiology"? I know a lady who took her daughter to a chiropractor, who diagnosed a food allergy. How did he do this? The toddler daughter sat in the mother's lap. The chiropractor would say the name of a food - "corn" - then tug on the mother's arm. When the chiro said "chicken," he gaged that the mom's arm was a little more resistant to tugging. Therefore, the toddler daughter was allergic to chicken. I s*** you not.

But then he said, "Most people think of chiropractic as just for headaches or neck pain or back pain. But 80% of my patients are under twelve. They don't have back pain. They get help for autism and ADHD."

Did you ever see the Penn & Teller show Bullsh** when they covered chiropractic? They found a chiro who did little kids, and Penn apparently got really mad. In his studio monologue he referred to that chiro as "that baby-twisting m***** f*****."

 

[Blue Wode]

Was it "Applied Kenesiology"? I know a lady who took her daughter to a chiropractor, who diagnosed a food allergy. How did he do this? The toddler daughter sat in the mother's lap. The chiropractor would say the name of a food - "corn" - then tug on the mother's arm. When the chiro said "chicken," he gaged that the mom's arm was a little more resistant to tugging. Therefore, the toddler daughter was allergic to chicken. I s*** you not.

Sadly, here in the UK, the General Chiropractic Council (GCC) considers Applied Kinesiology to fall within its definition of evidence-based care:
http://jdc325.files.wordpress.com/2009/06/gcc-ak.pdf

I was staggered to read the claim that applied kinesiology fell within the GCC’s definition of “evidence-based care”. Their definition seems to me to be so lax that pretty much anything you can think of could fall within it.

The best available evidence from research does not support applied kinesiology (or craniosacral therapy, come to that).

Clearly, the GCC’s definition allows practitioners to choose which of the elements of evidence-based care to take note of. They must allow chiropractors to incorporate the preferences of the patient and the expertise of practitioners including the individual chiropractor, while ignoring the best available evidence from research. That, or the GCC has no idea what constitutes “the best available evidence from research”.

Either way, the GCC seems to be unskilled when it comes to providing definitions of evidence-based care or when it comes to appraising evidence. I can only assume that they are unaware of their lack of skill because, surely, if they were aware of their own incompetence, they would take remedial steps.

http://jdc325.wordpress.com/2009/06/09/incompetence-and-the-general-chiropractic-council/