I was visiting a month ago and I saw a NHS clinic Chiropractic in a small town, which blew my mind. They love it in the US, but it’s nonsense, and you have to sign a disclaimer before they treat you. Why is UK taxpayer money going into this pseudo treatment?

37 comments

  1. Even better, homeopathy used to be available on the NHS. Not sure if they still allow it now.

    EDIT – Looks like it finally came to an end:

    “In 2016 it was estimated that NHS expenditure on homeopathy amounted to about £5 million.

    Following guidance from NHS England management that NHS spending on homeopathic treatments should cease, and that GPs should be advised to “de-prescribe” the treatments for existing patients, the British Homeopathic Association brought a lawsuit against the NHS.

    In 2018, the High Court ruled in favour of NHS England.

    As of 2018, the NHS Centre for Integrative Care was the only remaining NHS hospital offering homeopathic treatment, with an annual budget of £1.7m.”

    https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Homeopathic_hospitals_in_the_National_Health_Service

  3. Chiropractic is amazing! I went to my Gp with lower back and had an MRI and has lower disc bulges and there only options to help were Valium, a spinal painkiller injection or remove my disc (none of these fix the problem but just makes the pain or fuse my spine together).

    Saw a chiropractor for 3 months and now my bulges are gone, my sciatica is gone and I can walk and move pain free again.

    NHS is awful for anything related with the spine, I would never trust them to go near me, specialised chiropractors however who spend years at university learning their skills will always be welcomed!

  4. I am unbelievably sceptical about all that woo shit. But I’m also aware that placebo is a thing. I visited a chiropractor several years back for an intractable shoulder problem. After several visits, the problem was no longer present.

    I suspect placebo, but fuck yeah, I’ll take it.

  5. If done with soft tissue massage/therapy and for an actual muscular-skeletal issue that isn’t traumatic (for want of a better word, but I mean stuff like a herniated disc, damaged nerve, tendon tear, etc) then chiropractic isn’t *necessarily* pseudo-science. It can and does help people.

    The real madness comes from chiros (mainly in the US where they have a third-world medical system) who claim a simple “neck adjustment” can cure everything from a disc herniation to bowel disease. These people are dangerous quacks, and anyone with similar views should NOT be allowed to operate in the UK, let alone get NHS funding.

    Case in point – I had chest pain for over two years. a few X-rays, multiple EKGs, including one I had to wear for a week, even a gastroscopy. Nothing. Must have cost a fortune, though good everything serious was ruled out.

    Then a family member mentioned when it cropped up at a gathering “that’ll be a small muscle in your back being pulled and spasming” – fully trained in sports therapy, knew his shit. As this was a funeral and he lives some way away, I couldn’t get him to sort it, but saw a local fully trained sports therapist. Deep tissue massage, a few “adjustments”. Pain totally gone. Still not 100% perfect so I might go back, but he didn’t sting me with “you need to come twice a week from now until one of us dies” like the quacks do. Free to go back if and when I need it. Only cost £20, which was nothing to me given it solved two years of pain, but the NHS spending that £20 instead of all the other stuff would have been a big saving. I know they couldn’t, they had to rule out something serious, but you see my point.

  6. Chiropractic adjustments aren’t total quackery. They’re not going to fix diseases, but they really are wonderful for relieving some kinds of back and neck pain, sometimes in conjunction with medical care for more serious issues like scoliosis or sciatica. The places that include sports therapy like stretching and deep tissue massage are also really useful for chronic pain.

  8. I’ve had my back fixed loads by my chiro. My gp gave me THE SPEECH when I mentioned it. My backs been fucked since I was 15, so in 20 years the NHS has done nowt to fix it, yet I’m the crazy one for seeking help elsewhere.

  9. Have been going to my doctor with increasing back pain and other health issues for a decade. The doctor has done fuck all, wouldn’t even prescribe a pain killer or refer me for a scan of the area. The physio I went to was utterly useless.

    Went to a chiropractor ( who I’d heard good things about and done some research on). I’m 18 months in to treatment and I’m now well enough to be back working full time, half my other symptoms have disappeared and can now sit comfortably in order to work for extended periods of time. It’s an actual miracle that I went from barely being able to get out of bed to do the school run on some mornings to being able to work full time in the space of a few weeks. There are all sorts of charlatans in the business but I will forever be grateful to my amazing chiro for their knowledge, dedication and help.

  10. Had a trapped nerve in my jaw that the doctor said would go away on its own in a week. Well 3 weeks later it’s still there. Went to the chiropractor and he did some shit and the next day it was gone. I can’t speak for anyone else but for me it was brilliant.

  11. I have scoliosis and one visit to the chiropractor alleviated all my discomfort for around 7 weeks.

  12. Key bit there: USA Vs UK.

    I absolutely believe there are some charlatans in the chiropractic world and would always state go to an Osteopath over a chiro, BUT, done properly and following safe evidence driven practice, it absolutely alleviates a lot of musculoskeletal issues.

  13. Not all regions offer it on the NHS I believe? Unless that has changed recently.

  14. I’ve actually not heard of them doing a chiropractor on the NHS most people have to go private for it but they love to send you to a physiotherapist for like 8 sessions

  15. My private health insurance allows claims for chiropractors, aromatherapy and ayurveda but god forbid you want your ear wax removed, glasses or a dentist.

  16. Without a chiropractor, I would probably be on sticks or in a wheelchair now.

    The NHS route (pills, pills, more pills and a bit of physiotherapy, after which the physiotherapist told me she actually couldn’t do anything to help me, but she had to go through the ‘process’) did nothing. Seeing a chiropractor has kept me mobile for the last 35+ years. My NHS GP even did some manipulation to address an acute problem, and then recommended I find a chiropractor to continue the treatment.
    I’d rather pay £30/month to stay mobile and pain-free than eat pills every day just to be able to stagger to the bathroom.

  20. Thing is, if you did this same question but it was about homeopathy, acupuncture or healing crystals, you’d also get a load of people posting about how it did wonders for them and they were healed immediately.

    There’s quite a few dubious techniques that were provided on the NHS (my wife went for NHS acupuncture a few years ago). A few of them have had targeted campaigns by sceptical organisations that have pressured the NHs to stop funding them, for example homeopathy.

    Chiropractors are still available in certain parts of the NHS in very rare cases as remnants of this system, although it may only be a matter of time before they’re completely removed.

    Even the NHS website says,

    ‘It’s considered a type of complementary and alternative medicine (CAM), which means it’s not a conventional medical treatment.

    Chiropractic is not widely available on the NHS, but it may be offered in exceptional circumstances in some areas.’

    There’s some confusion amongst the general population as they often confuse legitimate medical qualifications such as sports therapists or physiotherapists with quackery such as chiropractors.

    This is made worse by some chiropractors branching out into legitimate medical treatments. So although someone may have been to see a chiropractor, they may not have received chiropractic treatment.

  21. It 100% is not nonsense.

    I have a bad back and neck, several adjustments and massages have ceased my migraines and regained me movement I did not have.

    Couple woth exercises I can now run around, play sports, the works.

  22. Because the arse that is Charlie lobbies for it. But it is indeed bollocks and a waste of money

  24. Because it passes the placebo test. People come out feeling better and don’t continue to hassle the doctor. The price to get them out of the GP waiting room while avoiding MRI time for scanning mystery ailments is worth it.

  25. I think it definitely has a place and you do hear success stories, but equally when it goes wrong it can go very wrong. I am a GP and I would not “mess with” certain spinal issues. Instead I would make a referral to neurology (or sometimes orthopaedics) as they have the additional training and expertise to deal with this. My worry is that sometimes a chiropractor would not do this (ie would not recognise that something is beyond their abilities), and instead would attempt their own methods which would harm the patient further. If it was me, I would always rather to see an osteopath, physiotherapist or even a specialist sports masseuse over a chiropractor. Not any disrespect to chiropractors, some are great, but I think sometimes they are dealing with complex issues that they don’t actually have the required expertise to deal with.

    Edit: add link https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC1297923/ with further info on neurological complications following cervical spinal manipulation. It is quite dated, but unfortunately it is a very under-researched issue.

  26. I fractured two vertebrae in a bike accident and my spine healed slightly bent and I had alot of pain in my upper back for years and doctors just said take pain killers if it gets bad so eventually I went to a chiropractor and they really helped my mobility and pain levels and while still stiff its never been as bad as it was before so from personal experience in certain cases I do believe they can help.

  27. Same reason why China invented ancient Chinese medicine in the 60’s, so people don’t mind not receiving proper medical treatment.

  28. Chiro and osteo isn’t new age mysticism crystal bollocks, they work to release/adjust muscles and joints that are causing mechanical difficulties. I get awful headaches from tension in the muscles of my neck, you can feel the knots in them. Trip to the osteo loosens them out and within a couple of hours they’re gone. No amount of painkillers solves the problem itself, they muscles need work which is what my osteo does. I prefer osteo to chiro as they work on both muscles and bones, whereas chiro tends to focus on bones (I believe).

  29. 1 – Chiropractors in the UK MUST be registered with the GCC as part of this:

    1a) – Its a 4 year Uni course and the content of which must also pass through the GCC.

    1b) – They all have a baseline set of standards and what they are allowed to and not allowed to do/say.(yes you might find some rouge ones but that’s the same everywhere).

    1c) – This includes an actual degree requirement with a focus on clinical care including but not limited to; professional standard of care; ethics; Orthopedics(though to a lesser degree than a specialist); pain psychology; rehabilitation.

    1d) – This also comes with oversight and the ability for yourself to complain to the GCC if your Chiropractor doesnt take your complaint seriously and in turn the Chiropractor can be removed from the list of registered Chiropractors and by law not be allowed to call themselves a chiropractor

    2- With the above in mind it’s a lot more strict than what the US most likely is. It’s not a free for all. It is structured. There are formal complaint avenues.

    3- Even if all it does is temporarily relieve pain in some cases that’s better than just handing out ever stronger opioids as pain medication. Both in terms of for the patient and in terms of long term costs to the NHS and UK wider social care systems.

  30. Because it actually works, it’s like massage therapy. It isn’t like the quackery they have in America.

  31. Chiropractory is quite rough and often does more harm than good. I’d sooner see the NHS fund Bowen therapy tbh. That shit works wonders and is way less severe.

  32. I was approached by a chiropractor once when I was carrying a baby and he tried to do the hard sell on me telling me he must do a spinal alignment otherwise he will have nerve pressure which will cause asthma.

  33. Scary that people here don’t know the difference between Physiotheraphy (science based) and Chiropractic (woo-woo).

  34. For what it’s worth, my 5* rated chiro told me not to crack my back, before paying him cracking my back

  35. Because it makes people feel better if they’re pampered, so they then don’t present with other ailments.

  36. I got whiplash in a car accident and my insurers sent me to 2 different chiropractors. The first one just like massaged and manipulated my back and neck and it really helped. The 2nd did shit like press parts of my bodies while reciting numbers to see when it would hurt, leading him to the conclusion that the cause of my pain was something traumatic that happened when I was 13.

  37. God this thread is depressing. Your anecdote does not mean that Chiro has evidence based backing. It doesn’t. It was founded by a man who believed a ghost told him how to do it, and who *explicitly* rejected the scientific method.

    Any good effect of chiro is not unique to it.

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