September 2004

Are you sexy?

by Dr. Madeline Behrendt

There I was, blindsided at a dinner party.

I was deep into the "What do you do?" conversation with another guest when she gushed that her favorite health care approach is acupuncture because, "It's sexy!"

Well, there's nothing like having your sex appeal challenged. I've been working on research ‑‑ have I been spending too much time at the library? Should I have been working on something "sexy," maybe a hot chiropractic action figure, instead?

"Oh, yes," she went on. "Acupuncture is "eastern" and there's "needles," and sometimes "fire," and she "can't get enough of it."

When I was a model I knew sex appeal sold merchandise ‑‑ but when I entered the world of health care, I assumed it was purer than fashion. I assumed wrong. The market forces are just as primal.

But those forces are not equal in value. Not being healthy sucks more than not being fashionable. Meanwhile, the "health" industry today is so confusing to the average woman, she can default into making selections based on urban myths or sexiness as a priority. Confusion can result in "patient fog."

Do you see the following scenario happening more and more? A woman arrives for a chiropractic evaluation with her shopping bag bulging with notes from all the previous providers she's been to. And it's a jungle out there. She is often physically and mentally exhausted from all the "fixes" and conflicting statements she's heard. Think Coke vs. Pepsi, Bud vs. Miller Lite, and every political ad you ever saw.

A woman with back pain can have: MRIs from the MD who's pushing for back surgery, exercises from a PT, acupuncture appointments, feedback from an LMT, and an armful of nutritional products from an ND ... yet, her subluxations remain, undetected, un‑corrected, waiting for chiropractic's unique expertise.

This confusion is fueled not just by public misperceptions, but also by providers. People absorb all their different environments and can struggle when another provider doesn't support utilizing chiropractic care and verbalizes it in a direct or indirect way.

Dr. Liz Anderson‑Peacock states that she doesn't like to spend time or give opinions on a patient's other care (it's already in the history) and will not get engaged in an "us vs. them" discussion. She finds that when other providers are inappropriate in their comments on chiropractic, rarely do they state it is their personal opinion, but make it seem as though it is the general opinion. She politely points out that he or she is not a DC and therefore should not be discussing chiropractic issues, which are not in the person's scope of practice. She then gets right into what chiropractic IS, and the goals she has for her patient.

Dr. Rick Humiston has also witnessed patient fog. He has seen this when a practice member is going to another provider concurrently ‑‑ one who does not agree with wellness care or understand the process of VS correction intent. The provider issues treatment that is a "fix" in the mind of the practice member, and that throws a wrench in the education process. Dr. Humiston stays on course while letting practice members make their own decisions about others they want to get treated by, and continues to check to make sure that his message is getting through.

Further, like many chiropractors with PMs who travel or live in multiple locations, he notes that if the practice member works with a DC who uses another technique or philosophy and so this is a different type of experience, the variety of "arts" is discussed with care.

Dr. Veronica Gutierrez comments on patient fog created from within the chiropractic profession and says, "The mixed messages from our own profession cause more harm than the PTs, the LMTs, the LAcs, and the NDs. If we're going to look at the 'fog', we better look at ourselves first!"

So, let's be clear. Let us not contribute to either patient or provider fog. And now is a perfect time for chiropractic to look inside as this month we celebrate chiropractic's birthday.

Chiropractic was made in America and has been going strong since 1895, thanks to the many principled chiropractors who have worked to protect and promote our profession! Take time this month to share with your practice why you became a chiropractor, along with your best stories from chiropractic college or our great seminars.

I love being a chiropractor, and yet both my best and worst experiences have been associated with chiropractic. In the upcoming year, I hope for more of the former and less of the latter, but either way, our profession weathers it all and continues to be a source of great healing and community for many people.

Happy Birthday!

(Dr. Madeline Behrendt is chair of the WCA Council on Women's Health and associate editor of the Journal of Vertebral Subluxation Research [JVSR]. An author and speaker, she is committed to connecting women to chiropractic and chiropractors to women, and may be contacted at drmadeline@drmadelinedc.com)