Chiropractic Economics’ Point-Counterpoint is where doctors of chiropractic and health care industry professionals debate the industry’s hottest topics. This issue: Y Strap chiropractic adjustments
The Chiropractic Economics point-counterpoint page on Facebook received a record number of responses after asking doctors of chiropractic to weigh in on the Y-strap adjusting craze and popularity of adjustment videos posted on YouTube.
“The Y strap was meant to be a gentle traction device not an adjusting method. I had the Y strap adjustment one time and passed out due to jamming my atlas and axis against the occiput cutting off my blood supply to the brain. DCs using it to adjust should be concerned that it will injure people and it is not a true Y-axis adjustment like the “Ring Dinger” is. Here’s a YouTube video on true Y-axis adjusting: youtube.com/watch?v=oGBiUt3VrtA&t=1s.”
— Gregory J., DC
“Ahhh. The amount of injuries to the alar and accessory ligaments as well as the SAAOL ligament [from] this procedure I have diagnosed is enough to make this maneuver labeled as “barbaric.” Find me any research or literature that hyper axial loading is good, not to mention that force. Most research suggests and has documented how little the upper C ligaments need to rupture and this maneuver is way over. The lawsuits will be coming…trust me. I have seen them starting…”
— Evan K., DC
“I understand the ‘excitement’ and the need around social media marketing. There has definitely been an uptick in the interest in chiropractic from millennials and lower [ages] after watching “Ring Dingers” and the Y-strap is just an extension of this. But what myself and my colleagues have noticed in this social media frenzy is the poor messaging that this gives potential new patients. The number of patients that call up wanting a ‘quick crack’ thinking we are just a silly parlor trick. The number of patients who don’t understand why they need to fill out paperwork, get an exam, etc., skyrocketed in two years. And it’s 100% led by the videos of these cool-to-watch YouTube gimmicks and online marketing offering $29 initial exams. Don’t sell your profession out for a quick thrill and cheap buck for new patients…and then complain why TPA’s only want to pay you $36 per diem.”
— Keith M., DC
“It also negates the specificity with which we were taught to offer an adjustment. I went to Palmer and remember the countless hours we practiced set-ups and technique. I am also unsure how the doctor in the two videos I watched knew his patients did not have a contraindication to receiving his adjustment.”
— Julie C., DC
“This is the stupidest ‘technique’ I’ve ever seen! I have two words — plastic deformation. We see it all the time with patients injured in M.V.C., and a big reason for hypermobility in the cervical spine…I get so angry when I see this nonsense on YouTube. The chiropractor should be ashamed of himself for putting this barbaric crap on YouTube, seriously undermining our profession.”
— Stuart E., DC
“I loved reading the comments! I am glad I am not the only one talking to patients about what they see on YouTube. When I have a new patient one of the first questions is…’Have you been on YouTube to see what chiropractors do?’ If they say yes I have a discussion with them that they are dangerous doctors and should not be practicing! We do not learn those adjustments in school and those doctors are just in it for fame and YouTube money! They should be stopped by our national associations, state associations, or flooded with comments on their videos from chiropractors across the nation. I have also felt the change of perception from the public due to these doctors’ lack of professionalism. Both the Y strap and the ‘Ring Dinger’!”
— Chant W., DC
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