Questions & Answers
This section is intended intended to provide simple answers to some of the most commonly asked questions about chiropractic.
Question: Why Do I Hear People Criticise Chiropractic?
Answer: chiropractic is primarily the science of detecting where joints are misaligned and nerve pressure exists and then repositioning the joints by hand. While this is the essence of chiropractic, there are many treatment types and philosophies within the profession.
A chiropractor’s education is equal to or greater than a medical doctors’ in all respects with the exceptions of pharmaceuticals, surgery and adjusting. Chiropractors study drug and surgery basics because this is important to being able to effectively manage patients; however we do not study how to prescribe or how to operate, nor are we required to do a residency after our internship.
Why the Criticisms?
Chiropractors are the only doctors who study adjusting full-time, and we also have more hours of x-ray study than MDs or radiologists. In all other subjects we have equivalent classroom hours of education, and we use medical textbooks for our pathology, virology, parasitology, microbiology, anatomy, physiology and biochemistry classes. The science we use to explain and justify chiropractic is, today, the science and research of the medical profession.
Chiropractic’s reputation suffers from many things: a hundred-year assault from the medical profession which spread misinformation; the lasting professional insecurity of many chiropractors as a result of this assault; lack of similarity from one doctor to the next and a different Scope of Practice in each of the 50 states; misinformation about the risks and injuries associated with chiropractic; and the greed and lack of integrity of a few in our profession who have perpetuated a bad reputation.
For example, most research funding comes from pharmaceutical companies and medical equipment manufacturers. Therefore, they have no incentive to study the effectiveness of a $30 adjustment that prevents or delays drugs and surgery.
Fortunately, much research has been done in England, Australia, and Canada. Because these countries have public health systems, records are easier to access. Consequently, studies show chiropractic is safe, effective, and could save billions annually if integrated. Summaries of these studies are available in About Chiropractic.
Fully Embraced by "The Powers That Be"
Moreover, integration is slowly happening in the United States. Specifically, many of the 16 chiropractic colleges offer programs allowing interns to treat patients in local hospitals. Additionally, interns work closely with MDs and physical therapists.
Importantly, most insurance plans, including Medicare, cover chiropractic care. Also, chiropractors work on staff at many VA hospitals. Eventually, wider understanding of chiropractic will overcome medical establishment survival instincts. Ultimately, this will allow the fastest, most effective care for everyone.
Meanwhile, experience chiropractic yourself and make your own informed decisions.
Questions and Answers: Will It Hurt?
Answer: sometimes, you may feel some pain or discomfort during an adjustment. However, this is uncommon. Additionally, the relief afterward usually lasts much longer than any brief discomfort.
Occasionally, a joint may have been out of place for a long time. Consequently, the joint might be “dried out” or swollen with fluid. Therefore, a slightly stronger or more focused adjustment may be needed to realign it and start the healing process.
Furthermore, I focus on providing the most effective and comfortable experience possible. Also, I work with your body rather than forcing it. Moreover, I listen carefully to your feedback. Ultimately, your recovery and long-term health are more important than momentary comfort during the adjustment.
Questions and Answers: What Are You Actually Doing to Me?
Answer: first, it is challenging to answer this question without some technical explanation. When a bone in your spine, wrist, or ankle slips out of place, it squeezes the body parts between it and the neighboring bone. This misalignment is called a subluxation. Importantly, the most critical structures between the bones are nerves.
Arguably, the nerves in your spine are more important than those in your wrist. This is because spinal nerves travel inside your body and connect to organs and large regions. Meanwhile, wrist nerves serve smaller areas and do not connect to organs. Of course, if you have carpal tunnel, you may only care about your wrist and want it fixed quickly.
First, your spinal nerves start in your brain and branch out to connect your entire body. They are incredibly important because they carry every message between your brain and body.
When one of these nerves gets pinched by a misplaced bone or swelling, communication breaks down. For example, your heart may not get messages from your brain saying, “We’re exercising, so beat faster!”
Likewise, your body parts can’t send messages back to your brain. Your running feet might try to say, “We need more calcium down here to keep going!” Altogether, there are about 100 trillion cells in your body, and each talks to your brain more than 200 times per second. That’s a lot of important information to risk losing.
It Starts Your Natural Healing Process
Therefore, when I adjust you, I use my hand to move the bone back where it belongs. This is done with a fast, gentle, and precise motion called an adjustment. Over time, a series of these adjustments helps the bone stay in place long enough for ligaments to heal. Once those ligaments are strong again, they can hold the bone properly.
As a result, the nerve pressure ends, and your body begins to heal itself. In fact, it may even prevent disease caused by that pressure. One of the most amazing things about this process is that it uses your body’s natural power to stay healthy. Truly, you are the doctor!
In addition, my office often includes muscle retraining or swelling reduction when needed. These steps help your body heal faster. Normally, your body could handle this alone, but we simply help it along.
Finally, more detailed and technical information is available on the Medical Professionals page if you’re interested.
Questions and Answers: Do I Keep Coming Forever?
Answer: first, chiropractic is like any other profession—some doctors are simply better at their job. Of course, some injuries are worse than others and take longer to heal and resolve. Sometimes, though, a person truly does need frequent care. Often, this happens because of another health issue, such as diabetes, which slows healing. In those cases, the problem is not the treatment but poor communication from the doctor.
Many people believe chiropractic requires too many visits. However, when you compare it to other health processes, you’ll see that it’s actually reasonable. For example, think about your teenager with braces. Those braces work to move teeth and reshape supporting structures—just like chiropractic adjusts bones and muscles. Yet, braces work 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, sometimes for years!
A Restorative Process
Similarly, consider physical therapy or exercise. Do you expect to visit the gym once and walk out looking like Batman? Clearly not. Healing and change take time, repetition, and consistency.
In addition, think about medicine. Pharmaceuticals act in your body all day, and many require several doses daily. Even a short course of antibiotics often includes 30 “treatments” in just 10 days. By comparison, chiropractic visits are far less frequent.
When I adjust you, we’re asking your bones to move and the tissues around them to heal. Because those changes take time, you may need several visits early on. Gradually, as your body strengthens and holds alignment better, your visits become less frequent.
Eventually, I hope you’ll come in now and then for a check-up—just like seeing your dentist. This helps prevent pain from returning. Furthermore, research shows that people who get regular adjustments tend to be healthier overall. They also spend less money on healthcare than those who don’t.
So no, you do not have to continue chiropractic care forever. Some patients care deeply about their health and choose monthly or bi-monthly visits. These checkups help keep their bodies balanced and prevent painful flare-ups later. However, others decide not to come for maintenance. When they do get hurt, recovery often takes longer.
Questions and Answers: What Is That Cracking Sound?
Answer: many people ask about the cracking sound during an adjustment. That sound is called a cavitation. Interestingly, it’s the same sound made when you open a soda can. Inside each joint capsule are tiny bubbles of gas. When pressure changes during an adjustment, those bubbles release, creating that familiar pop.
Questions and Answers: Why Does My “Real” Doctor Says Chiropractic Is Dangerous?
Answer: of course, every activity in life carries some level of risk. Driving, exercising, or even lifting a grandchild can cause an injury. However, chiropractic care is among the safest and most effective forms of healthcare available. Reliable research supports this fact. Copies of these studies are available in our office and on our Research Page.
Additionally, while mild discomfort is possible, Dr. Matthew makes your safety his top priority. He studies constantly to improve his skills and understanding of spinal health.
One important comparison helps explain chiropractic safety. The average chiropractor’s malpractice insurance costs about $4,000 per year. By contrast, the average medical doctor’s policy costs around $90,000 annually. If chiropractic carried significant danger, insurance companies would charge far higher premiums. Also, chiropractors would face more lawsuits and higher claim rates.
The New England Journal of Medicine reports that medical errors are the third leading cause of death in the United States. These include wrong medications, surgical accidents, and misdiagnoses. Compared to that, chiropractic focuses only on helping the body heal itself. In other words, it supports your own natural healing abilities—the safest kind of care.
Questions and Answers: Why Would My MD Say That If It’s Not True?
Answer: often, medical doctors simply have little to no exposure to chiropractic care. They may not study it or review its research. As a result, their opinions often come from rumor, outdated information, or secondhand sources.
Ultimately, chiropractic focuses on helping your body heal and stay well—naturally, safely, and effectively.
This number, of course, reflects misdiagnosis, accidents in surgery, giving the wrong medication or an incorrect dose: a lot of different factors are included—but it still dangerous business. By comparison, you will not find a more effective, safe and powerful treatment than chiropractic: all we do is support your body in doing its own healing, and I guarantee you that your body is the best doctor and pharmacist for you in the world.
Questions and Answers: Why would doctors say it’s dangerous if it isn’t?
Answer: the simplest and most obvious answer to this is that most medical doctors have no exposure to, or experience with, chiropractors or with any of the research on chiropractic: most of them have learned about it the same way you probably have, through word of mouth, rumor and inaccurate reporting.
Ultimately, chiropractic is about helping your body heal and stay well—naturally, safely, and effectively.
Until the late 1980s, the American Medical Association (AMA) worked actively to discredit chiropractic. At that time, chiropractors were viewed as competition for patients. After all, who would choose a $40,000 surgery when a $40 adjustment might work instead?
During that campaign, the AMA’s “Committee on Quackery” taught medical students that chiropractic had no scientific basis. Moreover, they claimed chiropractors were dangerous to the public. As a result, generations of medical doctors grew up believing false information about chiropractic care.
From Worse to Bad
In 1987, however, a federal judge ruled that the AMA had violated antitrust laws in its actions against chiropractors (Wilks vs. AMA). The court ordered them to stop the attacks immediately. Since then, misinformation has decreased in medical schools. Unfortunately, chiropractic education is still largely absent from their training. Now, instead of being misinformed, many new doctors simply know nothing about chiropractic, our safety, or when to refer patients to us.
Today, most MDs have about as much knowledge of chiropractic research as the general public. Therefore, unless your medical doctor is also a chiropractic patient (and many are), they likely do not understand what we do. You can find summaries of chiropractic’s proven safety on our About Chiropractic page.
Questions and Answers: What About Strokes?
Answer: occasionally, people ask about chiropractic and strokes. However, research shows that this concern is based on a false connection. Statistically, you are more likely to have a stroke while sitting in a salon shampoo chair than during a chiropractic adjustment.
In fact, skilled chiropractors—like Dr. Matthew and all Gonstead practitioners—minimize neck rotation during adjustments to reduce any possible strain. Even studies by anti-chiropractic researchers found the risk to be less than one in a million adjustments. When averaged across all studies, the risk drops to about one in five million.
Furthermore, chiropractic safety can be seen in malpractice costs. The average chiropractor’s insurance is around $4,000 per year, while medical doctors pay about $90,000. Clearly, if chiropractic care were truly risky, insurance companies would charge much more.
A Study With a Wild Finding
A long-term study in 2010 revealed something even more surprising. It found that the chance of a stroke after visiting a medical doctor’s office is actually higher than after visiting a chiropractor. Researchers concluded that both associations were misleading. Many people visit either type of doctor because of neck pain or headaches—symptoms that can appear during a stroke. Therefore, the visit or the treatment does not cause the stroke; rather, the stroke was already beginning before the appointment.
In summary, chiropractic care remains one of the safest and most effective healing practices available today.
Be aware that certain habits can increase your health risks, such as smoking or using birth control pills. Therefore, it is very important to tell all your doctors about these behaviors. This helps them provide the safest and most effective care possible.
Questions and Answers: How Do I Know When I’m Getting Better?
Answer: ideally, you visit for wellness care—not just because you are in pain. However, if pain brought you in, improvement often looks like less pain, fewer flare-ups, and greater freedom of movement. You’ll notice you can do more for longer before the pain returns. Meanwhile, I will update you on your progress, just as any good doctor should.
Unfortunately, many people measure health only by symptoms. As a culture, we often think, “If there’s no pain, I must be healthy.” However, that belief is misleading. For example, a frayed wire can sit unnoticed until it sparks a fire. Similarly, a worn radiator hose can appear fine until it bursts. In the same way, a lack of pain does not guarantee good health.
In reality, many diseases progress silently before symptoms appear. Therefore, it is extremely important to complete your full treatment plan, regardless of the doctor or specialty. Consistent care ensures your body truly heals and prevents recurring problems later.
Questions and Answers: Who Needs Chiropractic?
Answer: chiropractic is safe and beneficial for people of all ages. Naturally, adjustments are tailored to each person’s size, strength, and condition. For instance, an 80-year-old retiree, a 24-year-old truck driver, and a 2-year-old child all need different techniques. Because of this, chiropractors adapt each adjustment specifically for the individual.
Furthermore, many chiropractors complete advanced postgraduate training. Two of the most respected diplomate programs in chiropractic focus on pediatrics, helping doctors specialize in care for pregnant women, newborns, and children.
Children may benefit from chiropractic because birth itself can cause physical stress. Even a natural delivery can strain the neck or spine, especially with tools like vacuums, forceps, or cesarean procedures. Addressing these early helps prevent future issues.
Meanwhile, older adults—like your grandmother—can also benefit. Over time, joint misalignment can lead to wear on discs and cartilage, increasing the risk of osteoarthritis. Gentle, precise adjustments can reduce that stress and improve mobility.
Questions and Answers: What Is Gonstead?
Answer: you can learn more about the Gonstead system on our About Chiropractic page. In addition, other reliable resources online explain why this method is considered one of the most specific and effective approaches in chiropractic care.
Questions and Answers: What Is Spiritual Psychology?
Answer: spiritual psychology is a way of understanding life and healing. It begins with the idea that we are spiritual beings having a human experience. Therefore, it teaches that each of us already has the inner resources to handle life’s challenges.
Interestingly, this approach is taught at the University of Santa Monica. The program meets once a month on weekends, and students fly in from all over the world. During the first year, students learn powerful tools for communication, self-mastery, and excellence. Moreover, they practice these tools in real-life situations throughout each school weekend.
In the second year, students complete challenging and exciting projects. These projects help them apply and integrate what they learned. Through steady practice, they gain confidence in using the skills to improve both their lives and relationships.
Dr. Matthew attended this program to enhance his own health, growth, and success. However, his training offers you tremendous benefits as a patient. Because of this program, he developed a deeper way of listening, understanding, and communicating. As a result, his care supports not only your physical healing but also your emotional and mental well-being.
Furthermore, this experience helps every interaction he has with patients. Each session becomes a space for healing, understanding, and progress. For more information about the University of Santa Monica, please ask Dr. Matthew about his experience or visit www.gousm.edu.
Finally, the founders and presidents of USM, Drs. Ron and Mary Hulnick, have written a powerful book. Their work, Loyalty to Your Soul: The Heart of Spiritual Psychology, shares the key principles taught at USM.
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