Last week, some aggressive social media marketing by a chain chiropractic group had me in their office being assessed. I was interested to find out the cause of some hip pain I'd been experiencing for the last two years, and though I'd had some relief via an osteopath, I thought I'd give a chiropractor a go, especially as they offered an xray and spinal assessment.

Next minute, I'm being manipulated into signing up for four months of being 'adjusted' to the tune of some $1500 with twice a week manipulations of my pelvis and spine.

I could understand the reasoning. My pelvis isn't in alignment - that is, right to left, it's tilted, and my spine isn't perfectly straight. My posture needs work and my head isn't perfectly on top of my spinal column. It all looked very frightening. It was okay though, I was told, because she could fix me.

And so, before I was given the ongoing plan and costs, she gave me a spinal adjustment, which took about five minutes - a few cracks of the neck and so on. Nothing I haven't received via the osteopath or even a massage. She was young - in her mid 20's - and her bedside manner was a little on the patronizing side. She was uber efficient, neglecting the caring, empathetic side of a health professional, and I felt a little uncomfortable with the whole process. It was also depressing and upsetting to find that I'd be paying hundreds for treatment, even with a discount for up front payment.

Wait a second - I'd have to pay in advance? What if it didn't work?

What had I got myself into?

When I got home, I felt as if I didn't get this treatment things were just going to get worse.

Jamie, Dad and I sat down with it all and tried to figure out if it was worth it. Now, I don't know if you guys know much about chiropractice, and I'd sure like to hear your comments if you do have experience, but when you start online research, there's a lot of talk about pseudoscience and lack of efficacy. It's a field that has some controversary attached to it.

Many argue that it was founded on metaphysical belief and lacks scientific understanding or modern medical knowledge. It was founded in 1895 by Daniel David Palmer, who postulated that most diseases are caused by spinal misalignments he called subluxations, interfering with the body's innate intelligence - not a concept that is supported by modern medical understanding. As much as I might also be wary of the need to validate everything with 'modern medical understanding' - there's plenty of anecdotal evidence that proves the efficacy of herbs, for example - I still feel a little wary of something that hasn't got at least some proof, especially when many of the studies suggest that chiropractic success often is due to the placebo effect. Believe it will fix you, they say, and so it is.

However, Australian care I imagine has evolved somewhat. It's much more a rigorous study these days with students studying anatomy and physiology just like doctors would. There is an emerging body of evidence used to support chiropractor's claims.

Yet I also felt very, very wary of the side effects, being asked to sign a form that waived responsibility of the clinic. Of course most body manipulations can result in soreness, headaches and so on, there seemed to be a lot more serious risks than I'd expect from someone in charge of my spine and pelvis. Nerve compression, worsening of herniated discs, and even stroke following neck manipulation, bone fractures, joint dislocation and so on all worried me somewhat.

The other thing that bothered me was that I asked if there was anything I could do at home - exercises, sleeping habits, posture, and so on. She argued that most people didn't do it at home anyway and she'd prefer me to come in twice a week for four months before looking at the other things I could do.

Nope.

This was not okay by me.

I felt she was trying to get money out of me rather than put healing at least partly in my own hands.

I also felt quite angry that the health care system could be like this. If you have money, you can be 'fixed' - if you are poor, you stay broken.

Whilst part of me thought, well, if it fixes my hip and prevents ongoing issues, I can stretch the budget, the other part of me didn't believe in the claims of chiropractic care at all.

And perhaps my spine and pelvis didn't need to be perfectly aligned. Not all bodies are. And like me, many bodies have one leg slightly longer than the other. Surely I would be better off strengthening my body to manage any 'misalignment' than forcing it back into an alignment that she argued was better? Straight up and down, left to right didn't gel with me at all.

I really don't know what to do. I know my hip pain needs addressing, but I don't know if chiropractice is right for me personally, and it certainly comes with a hefty price tag. I certainly don't feel comfortable with the clinician I was assigned.

Perhaps it's just a matter of working diligently on my posture, strengthening my core, back and hip muscles. I'm certainly sitting with good posture writing this post!

With Love,

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