As our aging bodies start to ache more often, the idea of visiting a chiropractor becomes more and more appealing. It certainly sounds nice until horror stories like one unfortunate woman’s experience in New York pop up on social media. Her mother posted the incident to r/legal, explaining how her daughter had almost been killed when her chiropractor twisted her head and neck in such a way that caused a hemorrhage. The move tore the artery, resulting in a stroke.
“He walked out of the room and left her in there alone,” the mother recalled in shock. The chiropractor recognized what happened and called an ambulance as the daughter had to stagger off the table to sit in a chair on her own. Fortunately, the EMTs rushed her to a hospital in time, but the life-saving procedure was anything but simple. “They had to open up the back of her skull to relieve the pressure after about 3 days in the hospital. She almost died,” the mother said.
The New York chiropractor did nothing to follow up on the daughter’s condition, neither did he offer to help with any of the medical bills. Even though she recovered to an extent, this mishap was a life-changing event for her, preventing her from working and even changing her personality. “It is affecting her daily life in everything she does,” the mom cries. Naturally, the family wanted to take legal action against the chiropractor, but no lawyers wanted to take the case.
Desperate to somehow find some sort of justice or compensation,the mother reached out to neurosurgeons, who claimed that it was a “classic case of a tear caused by manipulating the neck.” She was shocked to hear when they told her that “people die from this and that they’re not surprised that it happened.”
Since the chiropractor didn’t respond in any way to the accident, on top of the waiver that the daughter likely signed before the treatment, Reddit users believe it’ll be hard to make a reasonable case against him. It’s unfortunate, but the mother will need strong evidence to take the New York chiropractor to court.
“Chiropractors are not doing medical treatments, they are not doctors; it’s a scam,” remarks a commenter. They’re not the only one who feels this way. “As a Neuro ICU NP who has taken care of people after they have devastating strokes from vertebral dissections after going to the chiropractor I will never and would never recommend going to a chiropractor,” says an alleged medical professional. Another person claiming to be a physical therapist recommends against chiropractors as well. “I’ve had multiple patients that got [expletive] up by them and I end up fixing their mistakes,” they recall.
That said, chiropractors might seem like a nice way to rejuvenate one’s body with some intense stretching and twisting to loosen things up. However, there’s clearly a serious risk that certainly should be addressed before ever lying on the chiro’s table.
