Perpetuating Spinal Myths - One TV At A Time

Low back pain is now officially the poster child for health care mythology. It has come to represent all that is wrong with the health care world and many of the practitioners that work within that world. It reminds us of all that is wrong with reimbursement models. It is a fine example of paying lip service to clinical guidelines and research.

And with that said, all of these things that low back pain now represents are being perpetuated because it is now part of the collective psyche of the masses. It is now on TV, going out to millions of viewers.

Thank you, Dr. Oz and Dr. Phil.

It just happens that chiropractic care is the theme of both of these episodes. But it is not the chiropractic care that concerns me – it is the value system espoused and the promotion of passivity in a world of spinal pain that should be promoting active solutions that foster patient independence.

Let’s start with this video from the Dr. Oz Show:

Dr. Oz doesn’t just discuss chiropractic care – he includes spinal manipulation. It is “as effective as pain medication”, he reports. He discusses mal-alignment – a concept that has generally been refuted in the scientific literature as a cause of spinal pain. He mentions that “prevention is the key to avoiding pain” and that this involves “strengthening the core muscles”. Another concept with little to no supportive research. “Chiropractic is looking for the root cause of the problem”, it is noted, yet the practitioner performs 3 non-specific spinal manipulations bilaterally. “When we do that, we are allowing the tissues to heal themselves” … but really? That quickly? Isn’t that counter to the timeline of cellular physiology?

And if that wasn’t enough, then how about this video from the Dr. Phil show:

Self-healing is a great concept. But there is an intriguing (and very common) conundrum presented here. If you think the body is “self-healing” (and I would have to agree) then how do you rationalize seeing a patient “2 to 3 times per week” and “for 10 years now, at least twice a week”? 104 visits per year, 10 years, and how many dollars per visit? What happened to “self healing”?

Let’s reinforce passivity among the masses! Let’s have everyone manipulated for a lifetime! [insert sarcasm here]

Please note, this is not a diatribe on the chiropractic profession – far from it. I know more than my fair share of physical therapists, massage therapists, and physicians that would espouse similar philosophies of care, and advocate just as many treatment approaches with little to no scientific support.

The primary reason for bringing this to light is the fact that we have another two examples of how these myths are perpetuated by the providers and the media. The treatment of low back pain becomes one of “accepted community standards”, especially now that the media (and especially Dr. Oz and Dr. Phil) have picked up on it. In some ways, the public awareness of the problems and challenges of spinal pain is a great thing. But on the other hand, perpetuating the spinal myths may just set the cause back another decade or so.

Photo credits: schmilblick