Adjustments In Practice - Reflections From An ‘Odd’ Chiro

Patients often look at me quizzically when I open an encounter with “I may not be like any other chiropractor you’ve seen before”. 

This is based on my, possibly/often incorrect assumption that their previous encounter involved a more ‘traditional’ chiropractic approach to management of their Musculoskeletal condition. 

This isn't to speak ill of their previous encounters with clinicians that they may hold in high regard, but reflects more of my possibly ‘less traditional’ approach, or different.

To me, Chiropractic is a profession, not a treatment. This distinction is important because professions are not solely defined by their ideas and values, although they may possess them. Instead, what sets chiropractors apart as professionals is their specialised training and ability to deliver comprehensive care. This care is particularly aligned with evidence-based guidelines, catering specifically to common (MSK) conditions.

The chance of me considering manipulation as the first or only option for treatment for MSK issues is lower down the totem pole of treatment than others. I felt when I graduated I assumed I should be looking for ways to justify why I should be manipulating someone, I remember another chiropractor stating when I interviewed for a job, ‘What was the point of me being a chiropractor if I wasn’t good at adjusting patients, it’s what set us above the physios’. The hubris in statements like this is possibly what turned me more in the opposite direction.