I’ve blogged about Correactology before, and that post has been pretty popular (for one of my posts, anyway…) so I thought I would revisit the topic. Supply and demand and all that jazz… Also, I was moved by a comment on the earlier post (reproduced in full below the fold), where a woman described a terrible experience with a Correactologist because she (a) had not been familiar with the nonsense treatment before, and (b) had nowhere to go to complain (the particular practitioner she was treated by is actually a Director of the “Canadian Association of Correactology Practitioners”). Helping people like this is one of the reasons that I set up this blog:
I wish I would have read this article before I went to see Allan Lapointe. I went in with a headache and muscle soreness in my back. This is because I was up for the past five nights with my 2 year old who was sick. I told allan I was 10 weeks pregnant, and he almost got mad at me because he claims that headache and backpain in the first trimester is a sign of a miscarriage. He then continued on to tell me he could adjust my hormones(without any medication or giving me hormones) which can sometimes prevent someone from miscarrying. I asked him if I should contact my midwife to inform her and he said NO they wouldnt know anything about these signs of miscarriage. Sounds a little wack to me. I’m sorry but my midwife informed me the only sign of miscarriage would be bleeding, spotting, and/or cramping, which I have none of. No one should ever tell a pregnant girl they are miscarrying without knowing forsure and without being in the medical field. I was so distraught and upset and still am. I am having continuous nightmare about losing my baby even though I know that this practice is BS. I wish the public would get together and put a stop to this organization. I have worked with children who are diagnosed with autism and I know that families are desperate for a cure and these guys are taking advantage of people. I feel so bad for those families who are given false hope. I am thinking of writing a letter to the news papers to inform people of how inappropriate this practice is. I would love to have others who have experienced this join me.
If anybody else has had a bad experience with Correactology, I would be interested to know. What I can do for now is look at here is whether or not Correactology is really a branch of chiropractic. This is an important question because chiropractors are regulated through various “Colleges” in Canada, but if practitioners are able to rebrand themselves as something other than chiropractors (say, “Correactologists”…) then they may be able to avoid that regulation. This leads to a reduction in accountability, which in turn harms patients who have nowhere to turn if treatment is harmful or fails to live up to their promise. I have been in contact over the past couple of months with the College of Chiropractors of Ontario (CCO), because I feel strongly that the methods used in Correactology fall within the definition of chiropractic. After an initial email, I was pleased to receive a response (which I can’t reproduce without permission) that the CCO would take action (including legal action) against any individuals who were deemed to have been practicing chiropractic without a license. I made my case:
Dear [CCO correspondent]
Thank you for your prompt and informative response. I do not have sufficient depth of knowledge concerning chiropractic to judge whether or not this particular modality is a form of chiropractic. Furthermore, there are few details given on the nature of the treatment modality. However, there appear to be very strong similarities. For example, both Correactology and chiropractic…
- involve the use of high-velocity, low-amplitude pulses. This resembles flexion-distraction techniques in chiropractic.
- emphasise particular points that are the focus of problems (“correctable points” in Correactology and “trigger point therapy” in chiropractic).
- emphasise the body’s deviation from a “healthy form” (interpreted as “body level position” in Correactology or “subluxations” in chiropractic).
- emphasise the body’s natural ability to heal (“auto-correction” in Correactology and “innate intelligence” in chiropractic).
The only real difference is that Correactology does not involve vigorous spinal manipulation. For more information:
- Esodynamics was developed by chiropractors: http://www.quackwatch.org/01QuackeryRelatedTopics/eso.html
- Details of the Correactology technique: http://www.correactology.com/centers/philo_technique.html
It would be deeply concerning if practitioners were avoiding regulatory bodies by attempting to brand themselves outside of the remit of the appropriate bodies and so I would appreciate any expertise you could share,
Best wishes,
Chris Hassall
This concept of definitions is deeply important in the case of complementary and alternative medicine (CAM). CAM practitioners trade on two opposite aspects of their branding: novelty and tradition. Some will declare that their methods have been used for hundreds of years, as though that demonstrated efficacy. Others will conjure up new pseudoscientific terms that sound impressive to give the illusion that they have discovered something unknown before their glorious discovery. Correactology is an example of the latter. However, the diversification of increasingly obscure and opaque CAM treatments compounds the public’s lack of knowledge or understanding about the principles involved.
I’ll let you know what happens…
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Foot photo by “Million_Moments“
Katatrepsis 
i agree with you… 😀 awesome lens… thanks for share..
I’m going for treatment now in Barrie for Chron’s disease after the La Pointe’s cured a family member of Celiac disease. I can appreciate the skepticism as a fellow pessimist however these guys are changing my tune from my experiences there. My experience from the pregnant lady couldn’t be more different and I can’t see them yelling at a client, I just find that less than believable. Anyhow, from touching my feet (yeah, I know really…) he told me my sinuses have been plugged lately and my shoulders are sore on top of the usual lack of sleep and Chron’s which I put on the treatment form. No idea how he picked the sinuses and shoulders out but he did and they’re fine now (sinus has been blocked for years, family doctor couldn’t help). As far as the Chron’s goes (after 2 sessions) the inflamed feeling is gone and I’m down a loop on the belt already and I’ve been off medication for about 2 months now. I also went out and gorged on trigger foods (refined sugars, cereal grains) to try and get some symptoms going but so far so good. I’ll post back after I’m done and I’ve waited a bit to see if anything comes back. For $60 a session and a few sessions (typically I assume) the cost of finding out whether it works or not compared to medication costs is worth the risk. As dumb as having someone touching my feet and back for treatment sounds, I’m feeling the best I’ve felt in 10 years of being medicated.
I agree I would not live without correactology, They are the best, And to say Allan said NO not to inform your midwife that is not true they would never EVER tell anyone not to see their doctors, they have cured me for many disease which doctors could do nothing. their not miracle doctors they are real. One thing I find funny is some people smoke or drink they don’t take care of their healths then complain it doesn’t work well you go to any other doctors and they still won’t help so your belief is what counts. If I would start doing blogs against doctors well I would be writing for 200 years. So don’t cut down medicine that works!!!!
It’s not a chiropractic funny hat you need, it’s a reflexology funny cap that’s required. This is nothing but the power suggestion coupled with some foot tickling and the body’s natural healing ability, oh and of course a lightening of your wallet. It would be very interesting to see the IP addresses of the two previous posters… “…cured me for many disease…” uh-huh.
These people re-branded a questionable practice, and created a “College” to legitimize their own creation (red flag much?). It’s all about taking your money, and it’s basically the same business formula reflexology developed.
In a best case, you feel a little better because your body healed itself, in a worse case you risk your health and your life by not seeking the medical help you really need.
when my girlfriends parent recommended me to c a correactologist with my pinched cyatic nerve and told me how it worked moving your feet around etc. I laughed and thought this is pure b.s. no way this actually works.curing people by moving your feet around for a minute ?no way,definetly a scam.. so I went to the clinic just to prove everyone wrong.i went to barrie.ont correactology health care. I guess in the end the joke was on me.because it worked for me and I no longer have the pains I had before.and I was told about a bladder issue I had.which is almost cured too.and I made sure not to fill out any medical history paperwork prior to coming in to c this correactologist just to c if he is for real.because my girlfriends parents said he will b able to tell you whats wrong with you.and he did.and I am 36years old and only been in the hospital once in my life about 5 years ago with a broken collar bone,so I don’t have any kind of medical history on paper anywhere last time I been to a doctor is when I was 11years old and that was in my home country of Russia and I checked out 100%…how else would he have known about my bladder problem?
The problem is with a disease like Chrons disease is that it compromises the body’s ability to heal itself. Your intestinal wall breaks down and eventually you’re unable to absorb much of the food you eat thus limiting the bodies ability to repair itself so the intestine continues to break down to a point where blood loss and anemia become an issue. I have a Gastroenterologist and a promise to be medicated until a medication cure is found, so taking a chance on something which has cured (yes cured) a family members Celiac disease was/is worth taking the risk of parting with my money to see if I can be too. As I said in my previous post, I’m a cynical person so either it will work or it won’t. I’m still going, my medication no longer works as it gets purged or has no effect whatsoever when I test it out randomly, I have been very ill but in ways that are different from very predictable symptoms from the previous 10 years of illness. If do heal I want my Gastroenterologist to check it out and confirm it. Ultimately, it sounds dumb but it’s doing something to me, good or bad is undetermined as of yet.
Good evening,
I am a practicing chiropractor fresh out of chiropractic school. Let me state, that after the 8 years of graduate school education(specializing in chiropractic sports and orthopedics) that I have never heard of this type of practice style. I contacted colleagues, professors and they to have no idea what this is. Let me assure you that the chiropractic curriculum is well in depth, and well evidenced based. Therefore, the claims that these practitioners make is based solely on anedoctal evidence. No study proves the efficacy of this practice style. That is why most people have mixed reviews. Of note, this practicing style displays the power of the placebo effect. “If I do ‘this, for this many treatments, I will heal you.’ To state that any “chiropractor” or any health care provider can heal anything is deemed unethical. We can only manage and reduce symptomatology. I too have contacted my governing body, and they looked into the practice model. You will now see that there is no mention of “chiropractic” on their website. To say a person gets well and truly believes in this treatment, I say fine. Do what you wish, but understand that these are the same individuals that state that they can cure cancer, diabetes and other conditions. Anyone claims to cure anything, I implore you to run away. 50$ for a 2 minute treatment is not quality care. I hope this helps. Be well. Move well. Live well.
In health,
Dr. Deacon.
Your a fucking quack!!! Chiropractors all they do is crack your back and anything else they can crack and say that your relieving gases and it will be able to get itself back in its proper position? Then charge you 40$ and tell you a bunch of bullshit that your spine is damaged and you will sleep better but don’t stop coming or your just gonna keep having more pain. You guys sicken me call yourself “doctors” your med school rejects is all you’s are!