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Day 13 (my final visit): I waited for Dr. Chiro in the treatment room but instead of lying face down on the table as previously instructed (a ridiculous practice, I now realize), I just sat on the table. When he came into the room, I told him again how uncomfortable I was having my neck adjusted. He then said, in a very firm, short tone: "Why?". I gave him my reasons and he again told me how it was necessary to adjust my neck as well as the rest of my spine in order to get satisfactory improvement in my back. He said he'd have the receptionist pull my x-rays and he would review my cervical spine x-ray with me during my next appointment.
I also told him that after 2 different treatments, I had a mild feeling of lightheadedness when I entered the treatment room for the heat treatment. He said "That's a good sign, it means your nerves are starting to work again." Yeh, uhuh. I decided then and there that when he shows me my neck x-ray the next day, I would ask him to explain the physiology behind that statement.
I then received my treatment (including a very gentle cervical manipulation in spite of what I said), then left.
That night, I decided I'd had enough. I would call his office first thing the next morning and cancel all remaining scheduled treatments.
The final phone call: I called early in the morning and got a recording that started with the statement "Thank you for calling _________. This machine does not take cancellations [how convenient!]. If this is an emergency...". I decided to call back later after the office opened, and did so leaving a message with the receptionist saying that I was canceling my appointment for that day and would not be returning to the office. She just said "OK" and that she would let Dr. Chiro know.
Twice that day, Dr. Chiro tried to reach me at work. I knew he would call me and try to pressure me into coming back. He left voicemail messages on my machine and I called him back when I got home that evening.
Dr. Chiro did most of the talking, trying to coerce me into continuing treatment with him. I told him I was considering going to an orthopedic doctor to get an MRI of my back to see if there is something else there that didn't show up on x-ray. He suggested that he could order the MRI for me through a lab he uses in Duarte, then he could review the findings with me and we could progress from there. He told me he was "concerned" about my GI problems (indigestion) and encouraged me to come back, saying he won't manipulate my neck (funny how he finally agreed to respect my wishes). He then resorted to scare tactics, saying "Your lower back is screaming now, in a year your middle back is going to be screaming, and soon after that your neck will be screaming." (He hadn't asked me how my lower back was feeling, not even once, since day one.) Finally, he uttered his last desperate attempt: "As your primary care doctor....". At that point I started laughing to myself as I could see even more how he fits the description of the type of chiropractor to avoid. (A chiropractor is NOT a primary care doctor.) I was so firm in my decision to not go back that I could just comfortably sit and listen to him babble on about how "concerned" he was about me, how my back was only going to get worse, and listen to him swallow hard (literally, as if he was desperate) as he recited his hard-sell pitches and scare tactics. Finally I told him I would seek out other care on my own and if I wanted to return to him, I would call him and go back (though I had no intention of doing so). When I hung up, I laughed as I considered all the red flags he had exposed about himself in that single conversation: (1) scare tactics, (2) pressure tactics, (3) calling himself my "primary care doctor". The phone call lasted more than a dozen minutes, with Dr. Chiro doing most of the talking in an attempt to talk me into coming back.
After the phone call, I felt an immense amount of relief -- and also a lot of anger. I felt manipulated (by his original hard-sell approach saying "if we accept you here..."), controlled, and very annoyed by his pressuring manner and his tendency to ignore my requests.
Dr. Chiro clearly fits the profile of a chiropractor one should avoid, as described in the many web articles I read (some of which were written by chiropractors!). I also spoke with others who are satisfied patients of chiropractic treatment, and the vast majority of them immediately recognized the red flags and advised me to seek treatment elsewhere. Even if some of his patients might feel relief or even physical, observable improvements in their spine, Dr. Chiro does not practice scientific, ethical chiropractic business practices and is an example of the type of chiropractor that one should avoid.
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