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Originally Posted by Betonov
I still dont think we mean the same profession. My father was sent to a chiropractor by a doctor when he had his back problems. Damn, I'm confused. Oh well, I still say it's a translation problem.
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No, it's not a translation issue. Chiropractors call themselves "doctor," but they are NOT MDs. Not anywhere.
Some insurance and HMOs in the US pay for chiropractors for stuff like back pain where at least spinal manipulation is on the appropriate part of the body. In the limited cases of back and joint pain, it has been shown in proper controlled studies to be somewhat better than placebo, but even in studies limited to back pain it is a very tenuous correlation. For everything else they claim to be able to fix (in the schools that teach chiropractic, regardless of what some practitioners might not claim to do) it's 100% BS.
A referral to a chiropractor by a real doc shows either reaching the end of what real medicine can do (frustration), or malpractice depending on who you talk to. As I said above, DOs also do some similar stuff for back pain, the difference is that they have real medical training (though most are probably people who were not smart enough to get into med school—and the chiropractors are those too dumb or lazy for DO school).
IMO, the only reason it even exists is that back pain is so very difficult to treat, period, but affects a vast number of people. In desperation, they seek out anything. For muscular back pain, acupuncture is actually more effective according to controlled studies as I recall. I've had some back problems for months now, and I've never even considered seeing a chiropractor.