beth (defunct)

even if the aesthetics don't seem very fashy. i've seen too many new agey alternative medicine people go over to qanon. makes me worried about like cottagecore tiktok zoomers buying into the whole race replacement conspiracy or something like that

Alright, since someone asked: the amount of professional regard I have for chiropractors, as adjunct healthcare practitioners, is extremely in the negatives, to the point that I would be comfortable describing my feelings as "outright contempt". I think they enjoy a level of professional autonomy and breadth of practice scope that would be laughable if it weren't simultaneously so worrisome. Every single chiropractor I've ever worked in the same clinic with has been dumber than dogshit. I don't know why that is, given that the program for becoming a chiro here in BC is four years, and I can only conclude that a career in chiropractic treatment attracts a Certain Type Of Person. Here in BC, chiros had the lowest COVID vaccination rates of any healthcare profession by like 10 percentage points, and many of them had to be disciplined for publicly advocating against vaccination. Whenever possible, I try to steer my patients away from seeking chiropractic treatment and towards less dubious practitioners.

Now - some of the basic principles of chiropractic treatment are sound. Applying directional pressure to joint tissue and stretching it within that tissue's limits can be healthy for joints, and can also provide associated benefits to the surrounding musculature. Chiropractic treatments also benefit from the same performative aspects as massage - being in a calm, clinical space, human touch, having someone working to "fix" you, etc. That's about as much credit as I'm willing to give them, however.

One thing about chiropractic treatments is that they're very short - sometimes as short as 10-15 minutes! That is, frankly, not enough time to perform the kind of assessment and re-assessment that forceful joint manipulation would warrant, let alone for determining if applying a potentially-dangerous amount of force to a person's joints is actually indicated. It's enough to introduce yourself, get some basic info on what's hurting, and then throw someone on the table to pummel them a little before collecting your 60 buckaroos. Assembly-line shit. Massage therapists receive training in joint manipulation as well, but we're explicitly cautioned to avoid stressing joint tissue past a certain point, and our joint manipulations include prior-and-post assessments to evaluate effects.

Another thing is that while joint tissue is very durable, it DOES weaken under repeated strain and when it ruptures it can take a long, painful time to heal because joints aren't actually very well-supplied by your body's circulatory system. There's also a substantial amount of risk involved with receiving any chiropractic treatment to the joints of your cervical spine, which can lead to muscle strains, nerve damage, and in some rare and well-publicized cases, death when the jagoff you're paying to give you On-Purpose Whiplash accidentally severs your vertebral artery. By comparison, while massage can sometimes be painful, its potential for that kind of lasting damage is basically nil.

I could go on, but this is already hanging on to being "about massage" by the thinnest of threads and if I keep going it's just going to be more shit-talking. Don't like the stuff! Would rather it wasn't so prolific!

salt lamps. one time she claimed to be channeling the spirit of my mom's dog through my little sister. she wanted to reject normal medical care for my grandpa when he had severe throat cancer but fortunately was overruled by my mom and her two sane siblings. she wrote a book about how you can heal yourself through positive thought and "cellular regeneration"