A paper by Schrader et al., "Natural evolution of late whiplash syndrome outside the medicolegal context," (Lancet, May 4, 1996;347:1207-11) concluded that whiplash injuries, and particularly late (chronic) whiplash are rare in countries where auto insurance and personal injury lawyers do not exist. The authors seemed to demonstrate that whiplash injuries are nearly nonexistent without the medicolegal incentives inherent in developed countries.
Overnight these findings appeared widely in newspapers and newsletters. The Association for the Advancement of Automotive Medicine [Inroads] carried a synopsis of the paper, as did the Back Letter, which featured a brief interview with Dr. David Cassidy. Dr. Cassidy viewed the study as valid, despite what he considered minor methodological problems.
In a few months, the Schrader et al. paper was regarded in many quarters as authoritative proof that whiplash is largely a symptom of avarice.
Some researchers pointed to what they considered significant flaws in the study's methodology (letters, July 13, 1996 Lancet, 348:124-126). Drs. Arthur Croft and Michael Freeman said there were serious problems with the authors' cohort selection. They asserted that because the study design was that of a retrospective cohort, the investigators were obligated to study a sample of persons exposed to a biologically credible causative agent. In the case of late whiplash, this agent would have been the presence of an acute whiplash. Drs. Croft and Freeman, after reviewing the cohort, found that only 15% had any signs of acute neck injury, and only two of 202 persons had symptoms for more than four weeks. As a result, they contend, only about 1% of the cohort would have been expected to be at risk of developing symptoms of late whiplash.
While Schrader et al. purported to have studied late whiplash syndrome, Drs. Croft and Freeman assert that they clearly did not, and thus rendered the study meaningless and impossible to interpret. The study was, as Drs. Croft and Freeman put it in Lancet, "fatally flawed."
When sports chiropractors first appeared at the Olympic Games in the 1980s, it was alongside individual athletes who had experienced the benefits of chiropractic care in their training and recovery processes at home. Fast forward to Paris 2024, where chiropractic care was available in the polyclinic for all athletes, and the attitude has now evolved to recognize that “every athlete deserves access to sports chiropractic."
It is estimated that 61% of patients with CTS avoid taking surgical options due to postoperative complications and costly surgical procedures. Chiropractic care offers a comprehensive and effective treatment for carpal tunnel syndrome, addressing the condition from multiple angles. Recent studies also have unveiled a game-changing adjunct to chiropractic treatments for CTS: nerve flossing.
Some doctors thrive in a personality-based clinic and have a loyal following no matter what services or equipment they offer, but for most chiropractic offices who are trying to grow and expand, new equipment purchases help us stay relevant and continue to service our client base in the best, most up-to-date manner possible. So, regarding equipment purchasing: should you lease, get a bank loan, or pay cash?
