The Top 5 Myths of Chiropractic
By Dr. Theo Berlingeri
Let’s be honest. Chiropractic has been misunderstood, misrepresented, and flat-out maligned for decades. And maybe that’s not an accident. After all, when you start challenging the pharmaceutical-industrial complex with nothing but your hands and a precise understanding of the nervous system, feathers get ruffled.
But here’s the truth: Chiropractic, especially techniques like Torque Release Technique (TRT) and Advanced Orthogonal (AdVo), doesn’t just crack your back and send you on your way. It taps into the very control center of your life force: your nervous system.
So let’s break down the five biggest myths once and for all.
1. "Chiropractors are just treating your pain or issue."
Wrong. That’s the medical model. We don’t chase symptoms. As a TRT and AdVo chiropractor, I’m not treating your migraine, your back pain, or your anxiety directly. I’m correcting a dysfunction in your nervous system that may be expressing as those issues. Once the system is back online, the body knows exactly what to do.
Healing isn’t forced. It’s unlocked.
It’s not magic. It’s physiology.
2. "Chiropractic is about mobilizing stuck joints."
That’s like saying Michelangelo was just spreading paint.
The real target of chiropractic care — especially TRT and Upper Cervical techniques — is the tone of your nervous system. Research into Reward Deficiency Syndrome (RDS) shows how deep this goes. Imbalances in the mesolimbic dopaminergic pathway — your brain’s reward circuit — are tied to addiction, depression, and more. And guess what? Studies have shown that TRT can normalize that pathway.
We’re not guessing. We’re adjusting the nervous system at the quantum level — think biofrequency, coherence, resonance. And the result? You start to heal, adapt, and function like nature intended.
3. "You have to go forever."
You’ve heard this one before, right? The old "chiropractors just want you to come back every week for life."
It’s not about dependency. It’s about maintenance.
Once your nervous system is holding alignment, I encourage tune-ups every 4 to 8 weeks. Think of it like tuning a guitar. Nothing is wrong with the guitar — but after enough strumming, stretching, and real-life playing, you need to recalibrate the tension to keep the tone pure.
Your nervous system works the same way.
4. "You need to be in pain to go to the chiropractor."
This one is a tragedy.
Most of my patients? They’re not coming in because they’re broken. They’re yogis, athletes, entrepreneurs, new moms — people who want to optimize their nervous system.
Pain is just one signal. By the time pain shows up, your nervous system has already been compromised. Chiropractic is for anyone who wants to tap into higher states of coherence, presence, and adaptability. Health isn’t the absence of disease — it’s the presence of function.
5. "All chiropractors are the same."
I hear this one a lot, especially from what people see on Instagram and TikTok with the “cracking” videos.
Saying all chiropractors are the same is like saying all chefs are the same because they use knives. Or that every doctor is a heart surgeon. Chiropractic is a spectrum. There are specialists, board certifications, postgraduate training.
And yes, there are factory-line, volume-based chains like The Joint, who are to chiropractic what urgent care is to medicine — a last resort when you need something fast and generic. That’s not what I do.
With TRT and AdVo, I use tools more precise than the human hand. I measure. I map. I adjust with purpose and specificity, based on your unique neurology.
Bottom line?
If you’re still stuck in the old-school model of chiropractic, it’s time to update the software. Your nervous system is the operating system of your body, and chiropractic — done right — is the most powerful way to reboot, recalibrate, and realign with how you were meant to function.
Stop waiting until you’re dysfunction is unbearable.
Start tuning your frequency.
And yes, question everything — especially the stories you’ve been told about your health.
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