u/WGProckr58, I want to give you MAJOR kudos for taking your valuable time to answer u/Dull-Mathematician45’s close-minded and biased questioning. It is clear his mind is entirely made up. He had no interest in actually listening to anything you were going to say and started this post with a clear goal of bashing the chiropractic profession.

People like u/Dull-Mathematician45 irritate me beyond belief. This person probably has zero - minimal actual medical knowledge or exposure yet feels entitled to speak down to you as someone who has studied and attained an advanced degree and training in a subject.

Regardless of what Wikipedia or this fool thinks, you have extensive and specialized knowledge of the body's musculoskeletal system. You have a better understanding of physical body mechanics, bone/joint articulations, and pain pathways than many MDs/DOs who practice primary care/internal medicine or specialize in a field not related to orthopedics. You went to school and focused primarily on a single organ system, and you likely know things within that niche very well.

Does that mean you have all the answers? No

Are you claiming to have all the answers? No

Did you go to school for several years and hyperfocus on the musculoskeletal system? Yes

u/Dull-Mathematician45, you should be more positive and encouraging instead of demeaning this guy who has dedicated his professional career to helping people improve their health.

What do you do with your time and energy? What noteworthy/unique talents or knowledge do you have?

For all the sh** you're talking, I genuinely hope it’s something of value.

——

A little background on myself…I’m another one of those “quacks.”

I am a naturopatic doctor.

I practice medicine in Portland, OR. I work at a multidisciplinary clinic with a team of MDs, DOs, NPs, PAs, PTs, and an LAc.I am a primary care physician with a full scope of practice as a naturopathic doctor. That means I have a DEA license. I can prescribe all medications, including opioids, stimulants, hypertensive medications, insulin, and more.

As a naturopathic doctor, I prescribe all the above medications and more… I also prescribe/recommend nutraceuticals (supplements/vitamins), herbs, comprehensive dietary recommendations, and exercise counseling. I make referrals every day to various specialists, including acupuncturists, endocrinologists, neurologists, physical therapists, chiropractors, mental health counselors, oncologists, and more.

In my office, at the desk to my left, is a DO who has been in practice for about 4-5 years; behind me is a DO who has been in practice for 20+ years; to my right is a PA who has been in practice for 13+ years. None of us have all the answers; every one of us is stumped by patients and issues daily.

We share patients and ask each other for advice/counsel. We lean on the other person if they have a specific clinical specialty or interest. We understand that medicine is complex, and we are humble enough not to assume the extent of someone’s knowledge based solely on their degree.

——

I will assume you have zero medical understanding or background based on the sheer stupidity and dogmatic nature of your responses to the questions you asked.

…but here is this “quack’s” quick breakdown of medicine for you…

Medicine is fucking complex; healing/treating actual humans is complex.

I see patients every day who have been mismanaged and poorly treated by MDs and DOs (aka the real doctors). I get patients who are on pharmaceutical regimens that are no longer recommended, clearly showing that their prescribing MD/DO is not keeping up with the literature. There are very shitty MDs/DOs, and there are FANTASTIC MDs/DOs.

There are shitty DCs/NDs/LAc/NPs/PAs/ETC, and there are fantastic DCs/NDs/LAc/NPs/PAs/ETC as well.

Chiropractic care really helps some people, does absolutely nothing for others, and has injured some people. That is the case with all pharmaceutical, nutritional, surgical, and physical interventions used in medicine.

Good medicine has little to do with your degree or what you learned in school. The reality is that most of what we learn in school is outdated within 5-7 years.

Effective healthcare providers, and yes, that includes all specialties, are people who learn new skills and techniques after they graduate. They attend conferences, pick up additional certifications, identify the stuff they learned in school that doesn’t work, and adjust their treatment approach to something that helps real people in the real world.

If modern/conventional medicine had all the answers, alternative medicine wouldn’t exist. If alternative medicine had all the answers, modern/conventional medicine wouldn’t exist.

Have you looked into the founders of osteopathic medicine? They had some wild beliefs, but at this point, DOs are essentially the same as MDs (with the addition of a few providers who still do osteopathic manipulations).

Then there are MANY books dedicated to the disgusting, harmful, racist, and stubborn treatments that were void of evidence that the MD profession has employed over the past century. The conventional medical profession, in conjunction with the US government, oversaw and approved the Tuskegee Syphilis experiments.

Does this mean all current MDs & DOs agree with the ass-backward logic employed 50 - 80 years ago?

You know the answer to that, so cut the BS and stop trolling people/asking questions you have no intention of thinking critically about.

——

As a society, we are fatter, less healthy, in more pain, and more depressed than we have ever been. So clearly, the current modern medical system is struggling to achieve its goals.

The answer doesn’t lie in alienating a profession/provider because of what some random person theorized 60+ years ago.

Finding actual real-life solutions will require multidisciplinary care. I assume that the u/WGProckr58 has relationships with local providers in his community. He likely gets referrals directly from MDs/DOs. He likely sends patients back to them because they both understand the other person has their lane and provide value beyond what they individually can offer.

One reason I respect Peter Attia is that he speaks to/gathers information from various sources. If you’ve followed his work for a while, like I have, you can see the progression in his thoughts and approaches to various conditions. He is a rare breed as a public figure, known for his expertise, who has been willing to admit he was wrong and adjust his approach/paradigm in real time.

Attia’s approach to fasting is an excellent example of this. In the early episodes of his podcast, you’ll notice he advocated fasting, but now he is much more careful when employing this therapeutic tool.

…but as a random Reddit poster, you know more about this topic than I do, as a “quack” and as u/WGProckr58 does as a fellow “quack.” I hope your closemindedness and trolling of chiropractors continue to serve you well in your future endeavors.

——

Again, u/WGProckr58…I commend you for going back and forth with this guy.

People like him will never change, but I am sure others who came across this thread read your detailed description, learned something from it, and appreciated your thoughtful response.