Stupid S*!T Doctors Say Part 2

A patient comes in for a consult and new patient exam. Her complaint has been going on for several months. Out of the blue, she began experiencing significant shoulder and neck pain. She put ice on it while working to deal with the pain. She then goes to an Orthopedic MD who takes x-rays of her neck and shoulder from which the MD diagnoses her with a muscle tear. SWEET MERCIFUL CRAP, is he serious?!? Is he really that incompetent or just totally dishonest?

• It is basically impossible to identifying and diagnosis a muscle tear on an x-ray.

• He did not tell her what muscle it was.

  • Come on, dude. At least commit to your total BS and lack of diagnostic skills. Dr. Gregory House would berate you without mercy.

• She was then referred out for physical therapy where she was treated once a week and had zero improvements.

• Once a week physical therapy is going to do nothing at that frequency if she actually had a torn muscle.

• How is physical therapy going to correct this tear?

After several months, she returns to the ortho who informed her that she “just wasted her money at the physical therapist” because he now believes she has a “pinched nerve”.  For which, he recommends muscle relaxers and pain pills and an MRI.

• Hey, dummy, you’re the one (MD) who told her to go to the PT. So why is she paying you again? You have not only failed to properly diagnose her problem the first time but you also recommended treatment that didn’t work.

• Thank God this patient had the common sense to get a second opinion before wasting more money on the MRI that her M.D. wants to order.

• Even if it is a “pinched nerve” she is showing none of the signs of a disc bulge or herniation. If he believes the pinched nerve is caused by something other than a disc bulge or disc herniation I’d love to know what. Because there really isn’t much else that this M.D. would be looking for on an MRI.

• Assuming he finds a “pinched nerve” on the MRI, what is he going to do to fix it? LOL surgery? CLICK HERE to find out why that’s probably a terrible idea, especially because of the actual cause of the problem, be it pinched nerve, bulging disc or disc herniation will not be corrected by neck surgery.

Situations like this are beyond infuriating to me. I was pretty confident that the cause of her problem was something that chiropractic could help with. The exam and x-rays revealed that I was absolutely correct. Not because I’m highly intelligent or a better doctor that the M.D. The bottom line is that it comes down to the fact that as a structurally focused chiropractor I look for the cause of the symptoms which, to a structurally trained chiropractor, are very clear on x-ray.

As a structurally focused chiropractor, the first place I evaluate is the structure and posture of the whole spine.

If the foundation is misaligned or shifted out of place from the designed normal structure symptoms like neck pain, headaches, migraines, mid back pain, shoulder pain etc. can happen. It’s not the only cause of these symptoms but it is arguably the most common and certainly the most overlooked by the medical profession and even many traditional chiropractors. Why? Because medical doctors treat symptoms almost exclusively with drugs and surgery. They don’t do this because it fixes the cause of the symptoms but they can sometimes mask the symptoms. For this reason, it is clear that there really isn’t much reason for medical doctors to be able to recognized and diagnose a patient who has an abnormal spine. They are untrained to correct it so there is no reason to recognize and diagnose it. These structural problems are chiropractic problems that only chiropractic can correct.

Unfortunately, the same symptoms that this patient had with neck pain, shoulder and rib pain, mid back pain, headaches and migraines as well as other common spine-related symptoms like low back pain, sciatica, numbness and tingling in the legs and feet are symptoms that are VERY COMMON. However, most people are still indoctrinated to think that a medical doctor is both the first choice and the best choice to fix these and other problems. Nothing could be further from the truth.

Chiropractic is the ONLY reasonable choice for spine-related symptoms.

Unsure of what is a “spine related symptom”? Then you’re still better off just seeing a good structurally focused chiropractor first. Medicine should be used for emergencies only. Drugs and surgery can help in emergency situations but the vast majority of people are not in an emergency situation. They are experiencing chiropractic problems that our out of a medical doctors knowledge. Use the correct professional for the right situation. Finally, it’s always better to choose the most conservative form of care early and first. Medical treatment comes with a lot more risks. It’s always an option but it’s far better as the last option.