The chiropractor profession is one of the most misunderstood professions in the history of health care. There are a ton of reasons for this…some are self-inflicted by our profession itself, and some are forced upon the public by those who either dislike us or might even feel threatened by the chiropractic principles of health and healing.

Whatever the reasons for this misunderstanding, the fact remains that chiropractic care is one of the most (or maybe THE MOST) important things you can do to get healthy and stay healthy.

In this article I am going to break down some of the misconceptions the public has about chiropractic care so that you can make a more informed decision about whether chiropractic is right for you.

MY STORY

Once upon a time, in the late 1980s, when I was a starry-eyed teenager growing up in Detroit, one of my best friends, the late great Scott Herbert, told me I needed to go with him to see his cousin, who was a chiropractor. I had NEVER heard the word before and had no idea what it was.

But Scott was a sharp guy so I figured he knew what he was talking about. And I went with him. There, in the office of Dr. Bob Pizzementi (aka “Dr. Bob”), I learned all about what chiropractic was and what it could do for my life. 

I had no back pain, no neck pain, no physical ailments at all, yet once I found out that chiropractic care is about expressing your God-given potential in life and in health, it made complete sense to me, and I have never looked back.

You see, I had never been swayed by any of the misconceptions because I had never heard of chiropractic until Scott told me about it.

Nowadays, people aren’t so lucky.

And I am going to clear up the 5 biggest ones starting now…

Misconception #1: “chiropractic will cost a lot of time and money”

People have either heard from others or they just assume that getting great results from a chiropractor will be expensive. And most people realize that every year insurance gets worse and worse for patients and most of the time they will have to pay out of pocket. So they think care will cost thousands of dollars and each visit will take an hour of their day.

But this is simply not the case, especially in an office like my office, Foothills Chiropractic in Travelers Rest, SC. We are incredibly efficient and convenient. With most office visits you are in and out in less than 10 minutes. You’re not spending an hour with us each time you come in. Also, our fee system makes getting care truly affordable, for you or even your entire family. You’re not going to be hit with a several-thousand dollar plan in our office. Simple, efficient and affordable – that is how we roll…

Misconception #2: “I only get adjusted when I am in pain – I know when I need it”

I’ve heard these millions of times. 

“I only go when I hurt.”

“I got adjusted one time 10 years ago and it ‘fixed’ me – can you do that again?”

“If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it.”

Here’s the problem: only doing things when there’s a symptom is just not the way to manage your life and your health.

That would be like only worrying about a damaged roof when it’s leaking in your kitchen. “When it ain’t raining we don’t see a problem.”

Or only going to the dentist when you have searing pain in your teeth. 

Or only worrying about your car when the check engine light comes on.

If you live your life being reactive instead of proactive, you’re setting yourself up for failure.

Chiropractic is all about taking care of yourself, and elevating yourself to a higher level of function and a higher level of health, whether you have pain or not. The people and the families that understand this concept are going to be some of the healthiest people in your community. The people that live their lives only reacting to symptoms are gonna be some of the sick of people in the community.

Which group you choose to be in is up to you – but I would suggest using chiropractic to take care of yourself.

Misconception #3: “I’m afraid to go to a chiropractor”

I always find this one kind of funny. Because it’s always the guy who is taking 8 different medications and probably will be for the rest of his life – putting God knows what into his body – who expresses this opinion. 

Anyways, I digress…

But the reality is that there is a certain segment of people and practitioners, whether because of jealousy or because of ignorance, that have decided to take it upon themselves to tell people that chiropractic is not safe. But from a clinical standpoint, the only person that’s really trained on how to tell if a specific person should receive chiropractic care, is a chiropractor. Whatever my opinion is of a profession that outside of chiropractic, I keep to myself because I am not qualified to share that opinion professionally.

Listen, do what you want. But I will say this: if you look at how much different healthcare professions pay for malpractice insurance, and if you would agree with me that the most dangerous professions would have to pay the most money for malpractice insurance, then it would be safe to say that the safest professions in healthcare are the ones that pay the least amount of money for malpractice insurance. Make sense?

And if you do a little bit of research you’ll find out the chiropractors pay next to nothing for malpractice insurance. This should tell you all you need to know about the safety of chiropractic.

Misconception #4: “Chiropractic is for bad backs and stiff necks” 

This one is kind of like number two above. The majority of people think chiropractic is for back and neck pain but they really have no idea what chiropractors do.

So let me some of that for you as concisely as possible: 

1. Your nervous system controls everything in your body 
2. The better your nervous system functions, the healthier your body is
3. When there is imbalance in the nervous system (caused by stress), it creates a state of dysfunction in the body.
4. This dysfunction can lead to a whole host of health problems in many different systems of the body.
5. The job of the chiropractor is to find and remove nervous system and balance, thus returning the patient to a state of full function and healing.

This little flow chart explains why, yes, back and neck pain do great with chiropractic. But it also explains why other conditions do great with chiropractic as well. Conditions such as: headaches, digestive issues, allergies and sinus, pregnancy (I understand that pregnancy is not a condition but I thought I’d mention that pregnant moms do fantastic with chiropractic care), anxiety, sleep issues – I have to go on and on and on of all the conditions I’ve seen chiropractic help.

But the moral is that chiropractic is a great way to help get the body working better, healing better, and it’s a way to ensure that you were as healthy as possible in the years and decades to come.

Misconception #5: “I’ve been told nothing will work, so why should I even try chiropractic?”

I’ve heard this one a bunch too…

And it’s truly a shame when hope gets taken away from a patient. I think it’s almost criminal to be honest.

What is the point: chiropractic is not in therapy, it’s not a drug, it’s not a pill, it’s not any of these things. It is completely different than anything else in healthcare because it balances the body and returned the patient to estate of normal function – this is the reason why we help people that have been given up on.

So if you have convinced yourself or you have been told that there is nothing that can be done and you’ll just have to live with it, I’m offering hope. But…one of the most important steps you’ll have to take is that you have to “un-convince” yourself of your hopelessness.

Come see me at Foothills Chiropractic with an open mind and no matter what you’ve been told, chiropractic can offer something you’ve never been offered before: the chance for normal function and true healing.

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Those are the five biggest misconceptions that people have about chiropractic. If you have one more of these misconceptions in your mind, they’re probably keeping you from living a life full of health, full of vitality, and they are probably keeping you in a state of sickness and disease.

I understand that some of the words in this article may sound a bit harsh. But I’m just being honest and this is important stuff. If you’re not getting regular chiropractic care you are not healthy. Period. And I think you should start getting it as soon as possible. And I think my office would be a great place for you to get chiropractic care.

See you soon!

Dr. Mike Geran