Can a chiropractor really fix my back?

Body Stuff with Dr. Jen Gunter

TED

Health & Fitness

4.6 • 1.5K Ratings

🗓️ 6 July 2022

⏱️ 28 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

Back pain is extremely common. (The U.S spent around $135 BILLION on it in 2016 alone!). It’s also complicated, because sometimes it’s one thing, but often it’s a combination of factors with no single “root cause” or fast fix, and many doctors unfortunately don’t do a good job of evaluating back pain, or even explaining it. So when medical practitioners advertise quick fixes and fast relief, it's easy to fall prey to procedures that might do you more harm than good to you and your wallet— like “cracking” your back, or unnecessary surgery. In today’s episode, Dr. Jen helps you understand where back pain comes from, how science solidly debunks the legitimacy of chiropractors, and shares real solutions you can use to treat your pain so that you can get BACK to enjoying all the amazing things your body can do when it receives science-backed treatment. For the full text transcript visit: https://go.ted.com/BSTscript16

Transcript

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0:00.0	Ted Audio Collective My name is Diane Rousseau-Chang.
0:08.5	I'm in my mid-30s.
0:10.6	I am a filmmaker and a photographer.
0:15.2	When Diane was 12, she learned she had scoliosis.
0:18.5	And she started seeing a chiropractor a couple of years later.
0:22.1	They would take X-rays.
0:24.3	And when I was younger and I saw my curved spine, I was like, oh my god, this is horrifying.
0:29.1	But they're like, no, it's ever so slight.
0:31.7	We can fix this, we can fix this.
0:35.4	Diane doesn't remember having back pain as a teenager, but the promise that a chiropractor
0:41.0	could fix the curve in her spine was alluring.
0:44.6	I mean, if something's off, why not fix it?
0:48.0	Diane kept seeing chiropractors, and eventually in college, she did start having back pain.
0:54.6	So excruciating, I couldn't get out of bed.
0:58.2	It seemed the best way to treat her was to keep up the visits with the chiropractor.
1:02.7	I lay face down, and they press on my upper back first until, you know, we hear it crack.
1:11.5	And then sometimes they adjust my hips.
1:16.0	How do you feel after you go to the chiropractor?
1:19.2	Like a little sense of euphoria, right?
1:21.9	You go in and your back really hurts.
1:25.7	It feels lighter, taller.
1:28.3	By the time I get home, I do start to have back pain again.
	...

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