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Chiropractors Starting to Find Acceptance
The above headline appeared
as the title of a feature article originally published in Northern
Colorado Business Report of Feb. 20, 2004. The article, whose subtitle
was, "Medical community losing its opposition to chiropractic care," was
written by Chryss Cada, and features a number of testimonials from
chiropractic patients.
The
opening testimonial came from a woman, Nancy Summers who took her
10-year-old daughter, Anna, to a chiropractor. It seems that Anna had been
having "episodes", for which she had been brought to general physicians
and a neurologist. During these episodes, the athletic and otherwise
healthy young girl became dizzy, had ringing in her ears and was unable to
function. Her mom believes the episodes are the result of an ATV
accident.
Neurologists, thinking
Anna might be suffering from some type of migraine headache, put her first
on anti-seizure medication and then diuretics (in an effort to drain
excess fluid from her ears and restore her balance). The drugs did have
some positive impact on Anna's symptoms, but they also had side effects.
"It wasn't like she was totally zoned, but it's like she was numb and not
the same girl she had been before," Anna's mother said. "And we weren't
really happy with the idea of having her on medication for the rest of her
life."
Anna's mother, Nancy,
recalled that Anna had had three episodes the week before going to the
chiropractor. However, after starting chiropractic care, her mother noted,
"The weekend after there was not one episode. It was incredible. We were
totally in shock." The article further reported that since Anna began
chiropractic care in November, she has had only a handful of episodes and
those have been milder and up to nearly a month apart.
Ms. Summers said she
felt her daughter's doctors were trying to dissuade her from seeking
chiropractic care. "It's like the traditional medical community acts like
seeking a treatment outside of that medical community is irresponsible,"
she said. "It was a big step to take her to a chiropractor. But now I know
it was definitely the best decision we made."
The article's author
further noted that, according to a study published in the Nov. 11, 1998
issue of the Journal of the American Medical Association, approximately 11
percent of the population visited a doctor of chiropractic in 1997. That
translates into approximately 30 million patients.
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