Phillip Lawrence, D.C.

Dr. Lawrence is a 1979 graduate of Sherman College of Straight Chiropractic in Spartanburg, SC.  For the past 20 years, Dr. Lawrence has maintained a practice in Toccoa, Georgia.
.

Looking for previous articles? Try the archives.









 










CRYSTALS! ACUPUNCTURE! YOGA! WHAT’S NEXT?

     In my 20 years of practice I have painfully observed my beloved profession heading steadily toward eastern mysticism, new age, and occult philosophies and practices.  I feel saddened and angered that our grand and distinguished science of healing is rapidly becoming bastardized with these quasi-science modalities.  When patients tell me they’ve been to other chiropractors that have read their auras, told them to sit under pyramids, advised them to have psychic readings, or have said that their problems are the result of bad karma, I feel both disgust and anger at the sheer buffoonery of such advice.  Need we visit the garbage dump to dig up worthless methods when we already have one of the greatest gifts given to humanity – the ability to correct structural disrelationships and to improve nervous system function with our hands?

     I have tried to understand what leads my fellow chiropractors to become involved in such activities.  I have deduced that there are two main reasons chiropractors fall into occult practices.

     No Results – Many chiropractors are just not getting sick people well, so they start looking at other areas of the healing arts.  Unfortunately, however, the main reason chiropractors don’t get results is because their technique is not correcting subluxations, but merely manipulating the spine.  Many ancient civilizations used manipulative therapies, yet if a subluxation was corrected then, it was by accident.  Cervical breaks and lumbar rolls, both involved in manipulation, lock subluxations tighter and produce micro trauma to ligaments and muscles.  Anyone who has been in practice for a number of years can tell you that the worst spines in the world are those who have received years of cervical breaks and lumbar rolls.  Find a good specific technique that doesn’t torque and twist the spine.  I was fortunate, and was introduced to upper cervical specific and Pierce-Stillwagon while still in college.

     Why not adjust the spine instead of relying upon manipulation?  That gets positive results.  Your patients don’t want you to be their guru, or to tell them that their “qi” is low.  They want to get well naturally, without the hocus-pocus.  No wonder chiropractic has such a stigma still attached to it.  The medics are laughing at us!  Crystals!  Acupuncture!  Yoga!  Damp spleens!  Visualization techniques!  What’s next?  A séance communicating with D.D. Palmer?  The reason the medical profession has such esteem in patients’ minds is that at least they draw the line somewhere.  Where is our line?  Think about it.

     Anything Goes – The second reason I believe chiropractors fall into occult practices is because they start going so deep into alternative healing philosophies that they consider any alternative acceptable.  “Alternative” doesn’t mean “anything goes.”  It just means healing “without drugs or surgery.”

     This is the best time to be a chiropractor; patients are more open-minded about natural therapies than ever, so why do we need to pollute chiropractic with magic, traditional Chinese medicine, and other secret and mysterious practices?

     The old adage is still true that “if you don’t stand for something, you’ll fall for anything.” Enough said.

Phillip Lawrence, D.C.
Toccoa, Georgia

 

Discuss this article in the forum

      





 

EMAIL TELEPHONE ADDRESS NAVIGATION
admin@chiroethics.org (864)585-5558 1400 Fernwood-Glendale Rd. Spartanburg, SC 29307 Home | Articles | Archives | Forum | News | Links