Chiropractic Ignorance Is Limiting Mainstream Medicine
By Chris Brown
Depending upon the clinician, mainstream medical professionals have ranging opinions about chiropractic care. This inconsistency can cloud the public's idea of chiropractors and the amount of conditions capable of treatment by spinal manipulation. But how much are mainstream doctors taught about the advantages of chiropractic and how do their medical misunderstandings affect everything from patient referrals to insurance coverage? Studies into medical students and public insurance has revealed a massive gap in knowledge throughout the mainstream care community.
How Much Does Mainstream Medicine Know About Chiropractic Care?
To study chiropractic knowledge in university programs, a survey was given to second-year medical students. The survey revealed that a large majority of students had zero exposure to chiropractic practices and evidence. While they noted that chiropractic may be helpful for lower back pain, the students had no formal teaching to support the notion. Additionally, this led to a general negativity about chiropractic and, ultimately, a reduced willingness to refer future patients. Providing mainstream medical students with clinical trials and studies that show chiropractic's effectiveness as a medical and preventative tool is essential to integrating it further in the medical community. The lack of training about chiropractic creates a domino effect of misinformation throughout the entire medical system, from doctors to insurers.
Financial Impacts of Limited Chiropractic Understanding
This lack of chiropractic education amounts to reduced coverage by insurance providers. Medicare, the national U.S. health insurance program for those 65 and older, limits chiropractic reimbursements to back pain and spinal manipulation procedures. Chiropractic, however, has shown a much wider range of treatment potential, from brain power optimization to correcting joint and kinetic chain dysfunctions. In a research paper conducted by instructors out of Dartmouth College and Harvard University, the reasons behind Medicare's limited chiropractic coverage were evaluated. The instructors found that Medicare primarily noted its reasons for coverage denial as insufficient medical documentation and the difficulty of quantifying the value of preventative care. These denial reasons are directly a result of limited education about chiropractic's health benefits. Increasing awareness and education about chiropractic can help its integration into mainstream care which has a great potential to strengthen the U.S. medical system as a whole.
Luckily, for those in the know about chiropractic's benefits, The Joint Chiropractic offers affordable treatments without insurance. These cost-effective sessions are conveniently by walk-in only, so that patients can stop by whenever best fits their schedule, without the added stress of appointments. So drop by The Joint today to experience the powerful, if underreported, benefits of chiropractic care.
To learn more about your health, wellness and fitness, see your local chiropractor at The Joint Chiropractic in Ann Arbor, Mich.