Chiropractic

Chiropractic is a form of alternative medicine that focuses on diagnosis and treatment of mechanical disorders of the musculoskeletal system, especially the spine, under the belief that these disorders affect general health via the nervous system. It is the largest alternative medical profession, and chiropractors often aspire to become primary care providers, though they lack the medical and diagnostic skills necessary to fulfil this role. The main chiropractic treatment technique involves manual therapy, especially manipulation of the spine, other joints, and soft tissues, but may also include exercises and health and lifestyle counseling. The "specific focus of chiropractic practice" is chiropractic subluxation, a concept for whose existence there is no good scientific evidence. Traditional chiropractic assumes that a vertebral subluxation or spinal joint dysfunction interferes with the body's function and its innate intelligence. Some chiropractors want to separate themselves from the traditional vitalistic concept of innate intelligence. However, as a whole, chiropractic is classified as a field of pseudomedicine.