Chiropractic and Placebos

Placebos harness the power of the mind.

Some dismiss the results our patients receive as merely the placebo effect. These cynics virtually ignore the mind/body connection that most forward-thinking health care experts are finally recognizing.

A placebo (from the Latin ‘I will please’) is often a sugar pill or some type of sham treatment that invokes the beliefs of the patient, and in the case of double blind studies, the beliefs of the doctor. Some studies show that placebos can be 30% to 40% effective.

Should the consistent results that today's chiropractic patient enjoys be simply chalked up to the placebo effect and a caring personality?

Hardly. While it’s always helpful if the patient believes the care they’re receiving will help them, chiropractic care regularly helps newborns, infants and even horses and house pets for which the power of the believing mind is clearly not a factor.

 

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Dr. Bec Asks some important questions of interest to Sydney residents - Chiropractor Sydney Dr. Bec Asks...

Why is a "slipped disc" unlikely?
Separating each spinal vertebra is a disc. Its fibrous outer ring holds in a jelly-like material. Because of the way a disc attaches to the spinal bones above and below it, it can't actually "slip." However, a disc can bulge, tear, herniate, thin and collapse. But it can't slip.
What's your plan to deal with drug-resistant 'super germs'?
Chiropractors have always been concerned with the indiscriminate use of antibiotics, accelerating the mutation of microbes that make "wonder" drugs increasingly ineffective. My strategy? Do everything possible to bolster my immune system through proper diet, rest, exercise, clean air, pure water and an optimally functioning nervous system with regular chiropractic care.