Schafer Chiropractic

Does everyone need a chiropractor?

While on a recent vacation to Ireland, we toured the Guinness factory in Dublin.  Near the end of the tour there was lots of old Guinness advertisements, and some artwork from local artists. I found one piece of art both striking and thought provoking: "A woman needs a man like a fish needs a bicycle".  Apparently it was a phrase found in graffiti on the streets of Dublin, and a local artist liked it so much he made it into this display.  The phrase is also used in a song by the (Irish) band U2 in the song "Tryin' to throw your arms around the world". I am sure there a some women who would agree with this, and some who would disagree. But I think the main point is that for some fish, uhm, I mean women, this is certainly true. There is no universal truth one way or the other. 

This made me wonder.  Does everyone need a chiropractor? Is it a universal truth that everyone needs to be adjusted on a scheduled basis all of the time?  I know there are plenty of chiropractors that will respond with an emphatic "yes!" But to say that (as a universal truth) would ignore the millions of people who have never been to a chiropractor, and seem to be in good health regardless. This does NOT MEAN NO ONE needs a chiropractor.  I have seen too many patients who were treated poorly by the medical system, or have tried every physical therapy exercise known to man, or have ignored the pain for years with opioids which they can no longer take.  And without regularly scheduled adjustments, their pain would quickly overwhelm them to the point of debilitation.  Some of these patients have had significant trauma for which there is no surgical "fix".  And some of them just have a genetic predisposition for musculoskeletal pain. Many of them have jobs which keep them sedentary, and this alone is the biggest contributing factor for their painful syndromes. 

 If you have a chiropractor that keeps you out of pain, by all means, continue treatment.  If you only need to be adjusted by a chiropractor periodically, that's great! Get treated "as needed".  When a new patient walks into my clinic, my goal is to figure out why they are hurting, not to figure out how to make them a patient for life.  I am not in the business of trying to convince a fish that they need to be riding a bike. But if you ask me this fish looks she wants to.