Inadvisable treatments

Chiropractic treatments

Chiropractic (from Greek chiros and praktikos meaning "done by hand") is a health care profession whose purpose is to diagnose and treat mechanical disorders of the spine and musculoskeletal system with the intention of affecting the nervous system and improving health. Symptoms that may respond to chiropractic treatments are back pain, some types of headache, and similar musculoskeletal complaints. Stroke, particularly vertebrobasilar dissection, is a rare but dangerous complication of cervical chiropractic manipulations (Haldeman et al., 2002).

Chiropractic techniques are not indicated to treat persisting perception disturbances. There is no evidence acknowledged by evidence-based medicine that mechanical disorders of the spine and musculoskeletal system can produce such persistent visual disturbances, as claimed by chiropractors like Emily's who "believes that many of my symptoms and possibly the visual snow are a result of the tremendous pressure that the vertebrae are placing on my spinal cord and nerves" (Ezboard forum Visual snow or static - Archive 1 - Anyone with history of whiplash or neck problems?, April 23, 2003), nor is there a single study in a peer-reviewed journal that has proven chiropractic techniques effective in this indication.

This is confirmed by the experience of one participant in the Sofia Greene survey:

"I went to a chiropractor and got diagnosed with a misaligned spine. However, $ 5,000 and 10 months later, there has been no change whatsoever to my visual snow. But hey, knock yourself out. However, like everything else done in an attempt to treat visual snow, your chances of failure far outweigh your chances of success."

(starrant [subject #138], Yuku forum Visual snow or static - General discussion - Chiropractor promises results??, December 5, 2007)

Augenfilm [subject #555] reported:

"Gestern hat der TCM Arzt einfach an mir chiropraktische Handgriffe an der Brust-und Halswirbelsäule vorgenommen. Obwohl ich das eigentlich sehr bedenklich finde, hab ich es einfach mit mir machen lassen. Und es war total kontraproduktiv. Üble Verspannungen im ganzen Rücken und starke Kopfschmerzen hab ich davon gekriegt. Seitdem ist es nämlich auch mit dem Benommenheitsgefühl (und Tinnitus) viel schlimmer... Ich finde das ist echt eine nicht ungefährliche Unart von manchen Ärzten einfach mal eben im Vorbeigehn Krack!Krack!, ohne sich vorher ein genaues Bild vom Patienten und seiner Wirbelsäule zu machen."

(augenfilm [subject #555], Forum Augenrauschen - Augenrauschen - Schwindel, May 7, 2008)

"Mir geht es sehr schlecht seit diesen chiropraktischen Manipulationen. Wenig vertrauenserweckend, weiß nicht, ob ich da nochmal hingehe."

(augenfilm [subject #555], Forum Augenrauschen - Augenrauschen - Schwindel, June 5, 2008)

The respondents to the Sofia Greene survey include only a single subject, Sheri (subject #86), who reported a reduction of her persistent visual snow following chiropractic treatment. "I didn't even know my neck was misaligned, but had noticed that it was weak and I often got stiff necks. I've been going to a n.u.c.c.a. chiropractor this past year, and when he adjusts my neck it improves my vision (and my cognitive ability and my insomnia) a lot." (Ezboard forum Visual snow or static - Archive 4 - neck problems and aura/vs, October 5, 2006) However, as about half of the episodes of persistent aura reported by respondents who got a diagnosis of definite persistent aura without infarction show a complete or partial remission, observations such as Sheri's don't allow to discriminate between the effects of spontaneous recovery and chiropractic treatment and thus constitute no proof for the effectiveness of the latter in the given case.

References

Haldeman S, Kohlbeck FJ, McGregor M. Stroke, cerebral artery dissection, and cervical spine manipulation therapy. J Neurol 2002; 249: 1098-1104.

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