This is part of our 'Pain Treatment in China' series.
Considered a form of alternative medicine, chiropractic focuses on the diagnosis and treatment of mechanical disorders of the musculoskeletal system, and the effects these disorders have on one's general health.
Practitioners believe that our central nervous system (brain and spinal cord) and peripheral nervous system (everything apart from the brain and spinal cord) are the keys to the human body and the manipulation of the spine — the pathway for sensory and somatic neuron signals linking the brain to the rest of the body — can be an effective way to manage pain without the use of medicine or surgery.
While some medical professionals remain skeptical of this approach, in recent decades, chiropractic has become more widely recognized in Western countries such as the US, Canada and Australia as an effective treatment option for neck and lower back pain.
"[Chiropractic is] a relatively new field and discipline in China but there's been an increase in interest over the past few years"
Born in Malaysia and educated in Kuala Lumpur's International Medical University, which is accredited by CCEA Australia and MOH Malaysia, Dr Gordon Boo, chiropractor at Chiropractic First and Parkway Health and a registered member of World Federation of Chiropractic, has been practicing in Shanghai for the past two years after working in Singapore. "It's a relatively new field and discipline in China but there's been an increase in interest over the past few years," says Boo, citing an uptick in the ratio of local Chinese versus expat patients he has treated over the past couple of years.
A chiropractor's goal is to make corrections to vertebral subluxations (misalignments of one or more bones in the spine that interfere with the proper communication between the brain and the body) to restore the spine and nervous system back to normal functioning through techniques like manual therapy and spinal adjustment — a technique developed by chiropractic founder, Daniel David Palmer.
Dr Gordon Boo, Chiropractor, Chiropractic First and Parkway Health
"[When a patient comes in complaining of back or neck pain], we first do a physical examination to determine if there's a spinal problem. If it's a problem with the muscles, we would refer him or her to another physician," Boo explains. "If the problem is spinal, we do an X-Ray to analyze at what angle and direction the vertebra has been shifted [in order to prescribe treatment]." Knowing the cause of the pain, according to Boo, is extremely important. For pathologically induced pain (such as from an autoimmune disease), medications are actually a more suitable pain management method.
But for mechanically induced pain from force-related injuries (including everything from chronic pain caused by poor posture to sports injuries), chiropractic is a drug-free and non-invasive approach that's becoming more mainstream. He adds, "Painkillers and non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs are designed to stop our brain from receiving pain signals, but they don't actually solve the root of the problem; they can only provide temporary relief and might come with numerous side effects. Chiropractors make spinal adjustments by using opposite force to correct the vertebra misalignment."
Find out more at www.chiropractic-first.org
See more stories in our 'Pain Treatment in China' series.
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