Is a chiropractor a magician?

I remember watching a public TV special with Alan Alda where he provided the commentary for a group of individuals who explored the validity of alternative therapies. In this one sampling, they noted that some vitamins and accupuncture therapies do indeed create a health response. This wasn't the case with chiropractic spinal manipulation therapy which is the basis of the work of a chiropractor.

I did a little research and found out that the founder, Daniel David Palmer, had an interesting premise when he started the chiropractic wave. From chirobase.org:

"Palmer theorized that "95 percent of all disease" was caused by spinal "subluxations" (partial dislocations) and the rest by "luxated bones elsewhere in the body." Palmer speculated that subluxations impinged upon spinal nerves, impeding their function, and that this led to disease. He taught that medical diagnosis was unnecessary, that one need only correct the subluxations to liberate the body's own natural healing forces."

"Palmer did not employ the term subluxation in its medical sense, but with a metaphysical, pantheistic meaning. He believed that the subluxations interfered with the body's expression, of the "Universal Intelligence" (God), which Palmer dubbed the "Innate Intelligence." (soul, spirit, or spark of life)."

His premise of starting chiropractic therapy sounds as lame as a magician who starts a routine with "I had a dream about you last night....and you held a card."

Here's a little more of the history:
http://www.chirobase.org/12Hx/discovery.html

and some reasons for controversy:
http://www.chirobase.org/01General/controversy.html

This may be a valid therapy. It could also be a bunch of hooey and if chiropractic care is snake oil, then it's interesting to see how one could employ some magic rules in one's chiropractic service. This magic would create the necessary belief and acceptance of early premises in a routine or chiropractic service then could end with some type of mental astonishment that sells the therapy. Here are some magic rules as they could be related to a chiropractor and his office:

1. Creation of belief due to props in the office - x-ray, hanging plastic spines, white lab coat of chiropractor, posters about spinal manipulation, the office itself that resembles a doctor's office.
2. Sound element when chiropractic alignment or magic occurs - the popping sound incorrectly thought by patients to be the spine popping back into position.
3. Poise, confidence and faith by the magician or chiropractor in his work which is mirrored by the spectator/patient.
4. Potential astonishment after therapy due to the popping sound that creates a belief that the patient's back is better or pain lessened. It sells the effect so it must be believed.

This list could continue. Could chiropractic therapy be magic? If so, what other rules or activities are being employed or could be employed to make this magic stronger?

On Penn & Teller's Bullsh*t! - The First Season DVD they do a wonderful segment on chiropractic medicine (in Episode 2: Alternative Medicine).

What their segment boils down to is that when you go a chiropractor for back and neck problems, they can legitimately help (although in many cases the benefits are no different than getting a good massage).

The chiropractors who go beyond the claims of helping your back and neck are the snake oil salesman.

Magic, as we use the term here on the Café, is the creation of wonder via a performance of apparently impossible feats for entertainment purposes. When you claim that you're going to stop manipulate someone's spine in order to cure things like autism, Down's Syndrome, brain cancer, bed wetting or acid indigestion, you're offering them false hope, and possibly preventing them from getting legitimate help.

That's not magic. That's fraud. Now, if you want to study how to make fraudulent claims more effective and believable, may I recommend the book Why People Believe Weird Things, or regular readings of the articles at JunkScience.com?