While the number of spine surgeries has been on the increase, this is especially true for those 65 years and older. Consider the trend for low back surgery between 1979 and 1992:
Number of Low Back Surgeries per 100,000
| 1979 | 1992 | |
| Adults Under 65 | 113 | 152 |
| Adults 65 +Over | 51 | 188 |
SOURCE: Ciol MA, Deyo RA, Howell E, Kreif S. An assessment of surgery for spinal stenosis: the trends, geographic variations, complications, and reoperations. J Am Geriatr Soc 44:285-290, 1996.
When I graduated from chiropractic college in 1981 and started practice, I heard it all, and very little was positive. “You are a quack; you do not know what a subluxation is; you couldn’t get into a real health care program, so you chose the one that is slightly above a mail-order degree; you have no proof that chiropractic works; Are you really licensed?”, and so much more.
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A central challenge in creating our identity is that chiropractic is a method of care, not a technique or procedure. This is an important concept for us to promote. Our patients are treated with lifestyle modification, exercise, nutritional supplements, diet and a whole-body approach to accelerate the natural healing process. We are not simply CMT providers.
The results of a global survey released late last year (2023) unveiled some startling findings among medical and nursing students. The “Clinician of the Future: 2023 Education Edition” surveyed 2,212 students, of which 446 were in the United States, from 91 countries.
