You might be surprised to find that Medical Doctors don’t do as well as Doctors of Chiropractic with musculoskeletal disorders. MDs just don’t do as well as they should, whether with their knowledge of anatomy, diagnosis or treatment of musculoskeletal disorders. Musculoskeletal disorders are problems that have to do with muscles (musculo_) and the bones (_skeletal).
TMJ dysfunction
A study published last year surveyed the competency of orthopedic staff physicians, physical therapy doctorate students, medical interns, and chiropractic interns. They found that chiropractic students passed their basic competency tests with higher scores than all of the other groups.
What this means that while medical students or doctors and physical therapy doctorate students are typically put on a pedestal for prestigious knowledge in understanding the physical body, this belief is misplaced. There is nobody as well prepared as a Doctor of Chiropractic or chiropractic student to diagnose, differentially diagnose, and treat somebody with spine complaints, or complaints relating to the muscles or bones that can be conservatively managed. Medical Doctors are great for invasive treatments such as surgery or injections, and of course nobody else can prescribe drugs to snuff symptoms, but they cannot rehabilitate and fix the cause of problems like chiropractors can.
As a Doctor of Chiropractic, I’ve had my diagnosis of a problem questioned by a person assuming that my training wasn’t the best. While it is gratifying to me to be proven correct later on in someone’s medical treatment, it is sad to see someone misdiagnosed, and perhaps treated incorrectly by an inferior clinician.
Nobody is better prepared to read an x-ray and provide treatment than a chiropractor (radiologists, of course are the king of reading x-rays, but they don’t treat.) Nobody is better prepared to determine the cause of someone’s low back pain than a chiropractor. Nobody else can interpret a neurological disorder and provide peripheral treatment, if indicated, better than a chiropractor. Medical doctors receive training on pharmaceuticals, while chiropractors are spending more time studying x-rays, anatomy, and applying it to treatment while in school.
Humphreys BK, Sulkowski A, McIntyre K, Kasiban M, Patrick AN An examination of musculoskeletal cognitive competency in chiropractic interns. J Manipulative Physio Ther. 2007 Jan;30(1):44-9
Hi! I was surfing and found your blog post… nice! I love your blog.
Cheers! Sandra. R.
Hi there!
I am a TMJ patient. It’s hard to one!
Too many medical doctors neither cure nor care. Most medical research is organized, paid for, commissioned or subsidized by the drug industry. If you see a MD, you will most likely be given drugs to mask the symptoms, but the underlying cause will not be treated.