Chiropractic is picking up in India, with social media filled with many videos on treatments. Dr Cyriac Abby Philips takes to Twitter to cite caution.
Screengrabs of the viral 'gas treatment' video on Instagram. (Screengrab)
Have you seen this recent viral video on Instagram of a Delhi-based chiropractor — with over 2,50,000 followers — who is seen “treating” a man who apparently has gas in his stomach? The video shows this practitioner, along with a couple of others, pressing down on the man’s abdomen.
The video has sparked an outcry from medical professionals who caution the public about the potential risks of chiropractic treatments. Dr Cyriac Abby Philips — popularly known as TheLiverDoc on X — took to the prominent social media platform to express alarm over this.
His tweet read, “Please hear me out: DO NOT visit chiropractors for any health-related issue. Stay FAR away from them. This is dangerous… I am quite worried that this nonsense is gaining popularity in India now.”
Chiropractors are healthcare professionals focused on the diagnosis and treatment of mechanical disorders of the musculoskeletal system, especially the spine. Chiropractic care emphasis on treatment through manual adjustment or manipulation of the spine.
Most chiropractors seek to reduce pain and improve the functionality of patients, as well as to educate them on how they can account for their own health via exercise, ergonomics, and other therapies.
The core philosophy behind chiropractic care is that the body has the ability to heal itself if it is in proper alignment and the environment supports self-healing.
Chiropractic care often centres around spinal manipulation to restore mobility to joints restricted by tissue injury. However, many chiropractors also incorporate other modalities, like massage, nutritional advice, physical therapy techniques, and exercise recommendations, and claim to support holistic health.
According to WHO’s guidelines, released in 2005, chiropractic is one of the most popularly used forms of manual therapy. “There is a need to develop guidelines on chiropractic education and safe practice, including information on contraindications for such care,” it stated.
The guidelines stated, “Regulations for chiropractic practice vary considerably from country to country. In some countries, like the United States of America, Canada, and some European countries, chiropractic has been legally recognised and formal university degrees have been established.
“In these countries, the profession is regulated and the prescribed educational qualifications are generally consistent, satisfying the requirements of the respective accrediting agencies. However, many countries have not yet developed chiropractic education or established laws to regulate the qualified practice of chiropractic.”
Delving into the history and origins of chiropractic treatments, Dr Philips said, “Its origins lie in folk medicine practice of ‘bone-setting’. You can still see ‘bone-setters’ in suburban and rural areas in India. They are quacks and remnants of a bygone era.”
He added, “A quack who goes by the name Daniel David Palmer, who used to perform magnetic healing, discovered chiropractic practice in 1890s. While attending a Spiritualist Meeting, [he claims that] the idea of chiropractic came to him from the spirit of the deceased medical physician named Dr Jim Atkinson. The ghost of Dr Atkinson gave him the principles of practice of a new therapy which considered ‘body as a ‘machine’ whose parts could be manipulated to produce a drugless cure’ — and voila! Chiropractic was born [that is how scientific this BS is].”
Please hear me out: DO NOT visit chiropractors for any health-related issue. Stay FAR away from them.
This is dangerous.
This is from an Instagram account of a chiropractor from Delhi who has >250K (misled) followers. I am quite worried that this nonsense is gaining popularity… pic.twitter.com/riKqC6SdTO— TheLiverDoc (@theliverdr) October 19, 2023
He added that chiropractic’s history is not without controversy. In 1906, Palmer was prosecuted for practicing medicine without a license in Iowa, leading to his incarceration.
Drawing attention to the methods employed by chiropractors, Dr Philips stated in his tweet, “Chiropractors propose that mechanical disorders of joints especially the spine affect health and manipulation (spinal adjustments) improves health — this is of course nonsense.”
“Apart from the spine, chiropractors also manipulate the patient and family into parting with their hard-earned money and they do it pretty well,” he added.
Backing up these claims, Dr Philips provided multiple links in his tweet to systematic reviews and meta-analyses that reportedly show the inefficacy of chiropractic methods. Concerningly, some of these studies indicate potential harm to patients, with severe complications in rare cases, including fatalities.
Dr Philips concluded the tweet with, “Chiropractors are not doctors and they have no knowledge of the human anatomy and physiology. I suggest that no one visit a chiropractor for any health-related problems at any point in their lifetime.”
With this growing trend on social media platforms like Instagram, it’s crucial for individuals to exercise caution and conduct thorough research before undergoing any alternative treatments.
While the TheLiverDoc’s tweet has comments from folks abroad, one user — @sthottempudi — said, “I never saw any chiropractor doing like this in US. This one looks like they are faking and clearly cheating and harming customers. I used to have back pain, when I bend forward while doing gardening. I took about 10 sessions including muscle stimulation, since then it went away. It’s been three years trouble free. Chiropractors here in US looks like having a good understanding of anatomy.”
I never saw any Chiropractor doing like this in US. This one looks like they are faking and clearly cheating and harming customers.
I used to have a lower back pain, when I bend forward while doung gardening. I took about 10 sessions including muscle stimulation, since then It…— Zephyr70 (@sthottempudi) October 19, 2023
However, in reply to this, another user — @DrIntravenes — said, “I will provide you with some context. Based on what you’ve mentioned, you went to what is best described as ‘mixer’ chiropractor. Unlike pure chiros, these ones use mixed techniques-massage, stimulation are relatively tested and are part of ‘physiotherapy’, yet these chiros adopt these techniques and ‘mix’ it with their original spinal readjustment techniques.”
She added, “A patient, let’s say you, would come out thinking chiropractor helped, when you could have had the same results with a physiotherapist as well, perhaps even better results.”
Another user — @aashudeshpande — agreed with Dr Philips and said, “You said it so right! I have wasted my hard earned money on this when I was going through vertigo. They are good at peddling how a straight spinal cord can fix everything automatically. When patients are in a vulnerable state, they buy it.”
You said it so right! I have wasted my hard earned money on this when I was going through Vertigo..they are good at peddling how a straight spinal chord can fix everything automatically..when patients are in a vulnerable state – they buy it 😢
— ashutosh deshpande (@aashudeshpande) October 19, 2023
Agreeing with the warnings issued by TheLiverDoc, doctors South First spoke to also expressed concern over the practice.
Speaking to South First, Dr SR Patil, a neurosurgeon at Hosmat Hospital in Bengaluru, said, “Chiropractors start aggressive spine manipulations without even a proper MRI, which can lead to dangerous problems. If there are underlying problems, let’s say a soft disc bulge, then the disc can get herniated or can even migrate due to the manipulation, leading to severe pain or even neuro-deficits.”
Dr Patil narrated the case of a patient who had tried chiropractic care and had come to visit him last month. He said, “In cases like spondylolisthesis, manipulation can worsen the grade, from say 1 to 2. The main pillar of allopathic treatment of spine problems is something called stabilisation, whereas this is completely negotiated in manipulation done by a chiropractor.”
Dr Rohith Rathod, renowned orthopaedic from the Sangareddy Government Medical College, told South First that this has become a trending practice, dubbed as one of the types of physiotherapy.
“Many people are getting encouraged to visit these people after watching such videos. However, this method is not a permanent cure for any spinal compression. These may only give temporary relief,” he said.
He added, “If ‘treatment’ is done by unprofessional persons, it may be dangerous as they may damage or even fracture the spine. It may lead to several complications. People should stay away from such things.”
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