My spine is like ninety miles of bad railroad track. I contracted polio at the age of two, and one of the frequent aftereffects of polio is scoliosis—spinal curvature. This can cause some fairly severe problems later on, because if you don't keep on top of it, it can get worse, even to the extent of crowding internal organs (such as lungs and heart) with detrimental results.

Fortunately, my father was a chiropractor. I've had chiropractic adjustments all my life, correcting the inevitable subluxations (a vertebra slipping out of place, often pinching nerve trunks which can effect the functioning of whichever organs those nerve trunks go to—that's the fundamental principle of chiropractic health care), and making you feel like you have a railroad spike in your back. My back was not severely curved, but it would tend to "slip out" at the stress points in the curvature (not fun!), and whenever that happened, Dad would work me over and adjust it. So, if I was fated to be bitten by that particular bug, I guess I chose my father wisely.

When my father passed away, I took regular adjustments from a colleague of his (the chiropractor he took adjustments from). And since then, I've had fairly regular adjustments from several chiropractors (whose credentials I check out thoroughly in advance). The result is that my spine, while it still has a sideways curve to it, is a lot straighter than it would be without regular adjustments.

So I've had a lot of experience with chiropractors.

MDs want to operate and fuse the vertebrae. I know people who have had this done, and judging from what they've told me as to the results (stiffness, constant aching—and the operation is irreversible), I'm not having any, thank you! Osteopaths can sometimes manage fairly reasonable ajustment, but they're not really trained in that specific kind of spinal manipulation. Physical therapists cannot (and I've had a lot of physical therapy).

Not all chiropractors are into auras, chanting, and such. In fact, none of the chiropractors I know are involved in this kind of thing.

I have no particular opinion regarding this, other than a healthy skepticism. If it seems to help, then, why knock it? But—it is not part of standard chiropractic procedure.

As to the validity of chiropractic as an effective health service, I've argued that argument dozens of times, and I'm not about to do it again. Suffice it to say that does have a solid scientific base, no matter who tries to claim otherwise.

Don Firth