Page 24 - Time Special Edition Alternative Medicine (January 2020)
P. 24
It Hurts
So Good
Chiropractic and massage
therapies are finding their
way into the mainstream—
for good reason
BY BRYAN WALSH
i’m lying on my sTomach, head wedged inTo cording to the National Institutes of Health, an esti-
a cushioned face rest that leaves just enough space mated 18 million adults in the U.S. receive massage
for me to breathe. The position itself should be suf- therapy each year. Chiropractors treat more than
ficient to generate no small amount of apprehension, 30 million of us annually. Those are robust num-
but there’s also this: I’m naked, save for the sheet bers for a pair of alternative practices that were
draped over my posterior. Yet I’m as relaxed as I’ve once barely considered legitimate by the medical
ever been, the tension in my body—and especially establishment. Decades ago the Ameri can Medical
that knot I’ve felt in my right side for years— Association branded chiropractic an “unscientific
dissolving in waves. I can even forgive the chanting cult,” and massage therapy still has to contend with
that’s playing qui etly in the background. All thanks a slightly seamy backroom reputation. But these
to the massage therapist standing over me, her fin- days, manipulative medi cine is pretty much main-
gers kneading the small of my back, arranging and stream. According to a 2011 survey by Health Forum
rearranging my muscles until I feel as soft and pli- and Samueli In stitute, more than 42% of respond-
able as Silly Putty. At the moment, I don’t particu- ing hospitals indicated that they offer one or more
larly care about the medical benefits of massage. All comple mentary and alternative-medicine therapies,
I need to know is that it feels good. up from 37% in 2007. Massage therapy was one of
I have joined the blissful state shared by a grow- the top two services provided.
ing number of patients taking advantage of what has But even patients who swear by their mas sage
come to be known as “manipulative medicine.” Ac- therapist or chiropractor do so less because they
22
