Comments on: They are Bone Doctors, Aren’t They?

By: Bernhard J Hamaker

Bernhard J Hamaker — Tue, 13 Jul 2010 15:30:52 +0000

As a student of anthropolgy in possession of a degree in sociology and (three weeks hence) marketing I am more skeptical of statistics than I am of what works for me. What’s more, the ridiculous reactions of allopaths (yes, that’s a jab) to my wife’s excellent experiences with midwifery versus her terrible experience with hospital birth serve to deflate my confidence in the medical profession. My experiences with MDs are consistently negative and my experiences with other practitioners are consistently positive. How does each profession handle the common cold?

Nutritionist – Recommends eating foods that break up mucus and improve immunity, like grapefruit. Also recommends removing mucus-forming substances from the diet (like dairy and flour) and drinking plenty of water to aid renewal of fluids.
Holistic – Rinse your sinus with a neti pot of salt water, which loosens and removes mucus and hydrates your sinus. Instant results, but must be repeated. Also recommends drinking plenty of water to balance humors.
Herbalist – Breathe steam of steeping mint. Clears sinus instantly, opens sinus cavity and clears eustachian tubes. Feels great; must be repeated. Also recommends drinking plenty of water to speed mucus elimination.
Chiropractor – Adjust cervical spine to reduce tension in the neck and improve autonomic nerve response in sinus and eustachain tubes. Also recommends drinking plenty of water to replace spinal fluid and waste bound in the muscle.
Medical Doctor – Mucinex to dry out your mucus membranes. Enjoy your sinus infection. Also recommends drinking plenty of water so you don’t get dehydrated. (To be fair, it is not the MD’s fault that no one ever drinks plenty of water without a more mystical explanation.)

I could tell you about how the last 7 times I went to a doctor they couldn’t solve the problem when the alternative practitioner I visited afterward solved it instantly, but It’s all moot since my wife became a certified herbalist. We haven’t had anything more serious than vomiting from food poisoning (from not practicing what we preach and ordering Panda Express). We still believe Doctors are good for surgery–that’s their specialty–but if I need anything non-invasive, I prefer not to get a prescription for something Merck advertises on an MD’s notepad… or a surgery when manipulation will do.

By: tor

tor — Thu, 27 May 2010 10:21:06 +0000

do you have any clinical experience?

By: Matt D

Matt D — Thu, 28 Jan 2010 00:45:20 +0000

Black Duck – As I stated, it's the research articles that are important, not the book, nor the source of which, to which I'm referring.

By: Le Canard Noir

Le Canard Noir — Wed, 20 Jan 2010 15:23:08 +0000

Matt D – perhaps you would like to reconcile your statements that US and UK osteopaths are '100% incomparable' with your attempt to use a US osteopathic text to justify UK osteopathic practice.

By: Matt D

Matt D — Wed, 20 Jan 2010 15:14:45 +0000

HCN:
The whole point of osteopathy was that the man who created it lost his family because of the failure of the (at-the-time) incompetency of then-modern medicine. US osteopaths are not true to the original beliefs of a holistic profession. One of the principles is that the body has the ability to heal itself, without having medicine imposed. The doctors in the US are doctors with an osteopathic qualification, not osteopaths with a medicinal degree, so they're XXX MD, DO. Sure they help in different ways, but US and UK osteos are 100% incomparable, in the same way that osteos and cranial osteos are.
Black Duck:
Chiropractors and Osteopaths share a history, the most famous intersecting arguement being that of Palmer (father of Chiropractic) was accused by Still (father of Osteopathy) of copying his practice and altering it to call his own form of medicine. Osteopaths use much the same techniques as Chiropractors, so I think you'll find that we *do* have the guts.
Peter:
As an Osteopathic Student, my course may not be on campus, but is regulated by Surry University and we DO use cadavers using our contacts in St George's medical school - like other schools of osteopathy.

It's wrong to say that there is no evidence for osteopathic benefits to treatment. Read a book like Kuchera and Kuchera - "Osteopathic Considerations in Systemic Dysfunction". Although written by an American osteopath and as such, suggests using medicine to treat patients, the references contain the real gems, being research articles detailing the conditions that can be treated. It's as simple as instigating a physiological reaction just by touching their skin with yours.

By: Le Canard Noir

Le Canard Noir — Thu, 11 Jun 2009 14:24:40 +0000

Well then.

That begs the question: why do chiropractors routinely X-ray?

http://www.quackometer.net/blog/2009/01/is-chiropractic-x-raying-illegal.html

By: Anonymous

Anonymous — Thu, 11 Jun 2009 14:19:08 +0000

In response to
' Even if their bonecrunching can be shown to be medically effective, are their "subluxations" actually detectable on X-rays? '

Spinal Haematoma's are not directly detectable on x-rays, does that mean they don't exist? Of course not, by the same account, just because movement disorders are not detectable on static films does not mean they can not be detected in other ways

By: Jonathan Hearsey

Jonathan Hearsey — Mon, 18 Aug 2008 22:12:00 +0000

HCN

Not wishing for another teenager style response, your point is?

You are right that the DO's in the US are different - I know that. My concern is that I think that they really are an ALTERNATIVE to MDs.

Just because it is fact in the US does not mean that it is a GOOD thing.

(Don't get me, and others no doubt, started on the US)

JH

By: HCN

HCN — Mon, 18 Aug 2008 00:14:00 +0000

http://www.nlm.nih.gov/medlineplus/ency/article/002020.htm

By: HCN

HCN — Sun, 17 Aug 2008 19:33:00 +0000

Whatever.