this post was submitted on 18 May 2026
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me_irl
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Tbh. I am not sure how 'chiropractic' differs to the German one. Over here its classified as 'alternative medicine' which technically is not school/book medicine.
Though I've had weird stinging back pain when I stretch for YEARS, and I went to a chiro. He pretty quickly figured out that some muscle is permanently tense but also stuck in that state due to pressing on a nerve due to tense-ness. Infiltrated the thing with some light anaesthetic, no more back pain, for years now i've been free of it.
How is this in the English tounge ? Over here it is actually pretty well regarded as a 'do this if book medicine can't help you besides cutting you open' which is a lot of medial cases. At least in my circle.
I am skeptical of just classifying something as a scam because its not book medicine. Acupuncture is technically not regarded as medicine over here. But you cannot deny it works, as a lot of Asien countries can absolutely, attest with years of history.
I've once been so extremly drunk that I could not stop puking or even remember it happening. A friend of mine can do acupuncture and she stuck it in my hand on a specific spot. I instantly stopped puking. Feels crazy though
the reason it's commonly accepted in germany is that germans as a rule love pseudoscience. naprapathy, reiki, radon caves, flower therapy, you name it. most pharmacies i've been to there stock homeopathic remedies.
basically the only thing osteopaths and chiropractors can do is treat back pain. and it's not permanent. the treatment can make you change the way you move because of soreness, so that you sort of fix the problem by yourself, but most people get told they need multiple sessions.
I think it's a common thing in central Europe.
There is a big ayahuasca issue now where people wanting to get healed get scammed and hurt.
Osteopathy is legit in comparison to chiropractice, but it needs to be an additional qualification you get on top after becoming a physiotherapist.
Source: speech therapist in training who's learned about the benefits of osteopathy in school plus a friend of mine who can attest to its benefit
Agree with the rest you said. You could assume that Germans would trust actual medicine more given that the vast majority have access to healthcare and can "afford" actual treatment, but most people who fall for these scams are desperate and uninformed, so they are easily manipulated.
Chiropractic in the US refers exclusively to the practice of musculoskeletal manipulation and "adjustment". Yanking on and twisting joints to get them back into the "right" position. It can work in specific circumstances, but can also further exacerbate some conditions. Someone who is only a chiropractor typically does not or is not allowed to administer invasive procedures such as the cortisone or lidocaine shot that I assume you got. That's reserved for actual doctors here. Sounds like the person you saw would be more likely be a physiatrist or physical therapist in the US.
Basically chiropractic is a separate education/licensing process, and requirements vary by state. Most states, for instance, don't require chiropractors to carry malpractice insurance. That means if they put you in a wheelchair, they declare bankruptcy and start a podcast or become a personal trainer or some shit, and you get to battle them in court while in crippling pain, and then max out your insurance deductible every year for the rest of your life. People who practice chiropractic may have additional qualifications and licenses allowing them to write prescriptions and do minor invasive procedures such as injections, but that's not too common.
The guy who invented chiropractic literally says he learned it from a ghost called Jim Atkinson. He also did "magnetic healing".
I went to a chiropractor as a kid because of back pain. They pretty quickly figured out it was because one of my legs was longer than the other, and did several adjustments to my back, next, and legs, none of which did very much. I was told to keep coming back and it would take time to work, and that if I stopped, the pain would come back. (Of course, this conveniently meant I would have to keep paying for sessions)
The words the guy was using about why things worked were utterly crackpot, including stuff about how adjustments or pressure applied in specific parts of the hands could affect parts of the gut or brain etc. about how my organs weren't getting enough nerve supply. All sorts of ridiculous charts on the walls showing things that I definitely knew weren't in the body.
I later figured out my back pain was because my schoolbag was too heavy. My legs are the same length as each other.
Oh and yes, I absolutely can and will deny that acupuncture works. It doesn't. It's all placebo, which is very powerful.
As a kid I had a chiropractor diagnose me similarly. Specifically one leg had been longer and my body was used to it then the other leg had a growth spurt and was now the longer one. He showed me the difference, popped my back a few times and hooked up a TENS unit into my muscles (incidentally, that sounds so nice right now). Then after a few sessions I was fine and never went back.
I say all this because it was the best case scenario, it worked, by skill and integrity or dumb luck, I don't know which. This is the sort of experience we have to acknowledge and argue against when we argue against this profession, because the fact remains that they're quacks. At best some of them are mirroring modern medicine in the form of physiotherapy. But we can't know they're doing it well and good at it. Even the good ones share a profession with the quacks and provide cover for them.
"alternative medicine" that is proven to work is usually called "medicine".