In years past, it often seemed as though traditional medical doctors and chiropractors were constantly competing (sometimes even fighting) against one another. Thankfully, in the past decade we’ve seen a trend of more cooperation between these two medical fields. This is particularly noticeable in the way that more and more, general practitioners are willing to refer patients who suffer from back pain or regular headaches to chiropractors. Why is this shift in attitude happening?

Limitations of medicine

Most primary care doctors would agree that traditional medicine can’t fix everything—you can’t take a drug and immediately undo the effects from years of smoking, poor nutrition, excessive stress, or lack of exercise. But there are things that medicine is very effective in treating: for example, strep throat, an ear infection, or nearly anything in which a virus or infection has taken hold. And primary care doctors have a thorough understanding of the human body, and are able to tap into their big-picture perspective when trying to determine the source of symptoms. However, there are some situations in which traditional medicine is less effective.
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