CHIROPRACTICS.

Shannon News, 24 September 1929, Page 4

CHIROPRACTICS.

ADDRESS BY MR. F. J. RYDER. ATTEMPTED INTRODUCTION- TO HOSPITAL. . ' ■ A.n enthusiastic advocate of chiropraci ics as a cure for the ills that the tlesh ,is heir too, is Mr. P. J. Ryder, oi Otaki," who is also a member of the Palinci.stoji JS r orth Hospital Board. 'On Monday, the Board,gave, him permission to deliver an address on the . science. Mr. Ryder said it was the greatest pleasure in his life to be able to speak on tin 1 subject I'rom practical experience and not theory alone. He had been responsible in sending no less than 25 people to the chiropractor with great results except in one or two cases only. For two years he had waited this opportunity to speak. On four occassions he had been to a chiropractor himself with beneficial results. On the first occasion he went out of curiosity only but he was now very thankful that he had gone. Mr. Ryder instanced the case of his own son who

could not sleep. The doctors had-not - benefitted him, but miraculous though it may seem, after the first visit to the chiropractor he had got a night's sleep by adjusting the nerve that was responsible for the trouble. Then he himself had gone to a chiropractor with

a bad knee and the result had been

again a cure without the chiropractor even looking at the knee. The second visit had been for intestinal trouble

and again he was cured with only a ' few visits to the chiropractor. Others he -had sent for treatment had come back to him to.express their pleasure at having followed his advice. Mr. ' Ryder said he had no axe to grind in the matter but felt that the practice should be better known to the general ; public than it was. He 4lso felt that much time had been lost. In America the day was coming when school children ,wquld be educated in the art, he had been informed, and many medical men there were taking a greater in-

terest in chiropractics. In training to be a chiropractor there was -no need to learn surgery,

they knew probably more about anatomy than a medical man. Doctors said that the vertebrae of the spine could not be shifted but he could pro

duco X-ray, photographs to show that it could be displaced and a displaced ' vertebrae was the jcause of many disabilities of the flesh. . Mr. Kyder Iquoted the of a ' minister whq was given up to die, but ' who had been placed in f the hands of a ' \ chiropractor. It was no time before he was up and about again. What he was saying was no fairy tale but iGod's truth and that minister would come before the Board and tell them for himself what had happened. The speaker also quoted the case of a boy who had a bad eye which a

Dunedin specialist wanted to . remove as the only cure. A chiropractor, in , : three months by treatment of 'the spine, had the eye normal again. There were four, diseases —diabetes,

creeping paralysis, asthma and constif pation—-which medical .men could not cure, but which the chiropractor could. That- he claimed was an outstanding record. Thirty years ago chiroprac'tic was unknown but now over 10,000 men and , women were \ practising the new science. He thought that the reason why it had not advanced at a greater pace was a desire not to offend the medical profession and the fear lest one who went to a chiropractor should be subjected to ridicule. Those things, however, were nought to F. J, Ryder, who, if 'offered £25,000 -to stop going to a chiropractor should the need arise, would not take it badly trough he might need the money. That was how earnestly he felt about the matter and ho had been complimented on the stand he had taken. The chairman said that under "the

Act, the Board had no power to ap-

point a chiropractor in the hospital. However, he knew personally of medi- , cal men who had sent patients to chiropractors.

Mr. Ryder asked that the Board send to the Hospital Association's executive a request for an address by the head of the Chiropractors' Association in X.Z. to .ddress the next conference of HospitaV Boards. Mr. R. iC. C Aitchis'on said he was right, up against Mr. Eyder. The medical profession was a great one and any interference by chiropractors would he harmful. There would always be cures by chiropractors but would the cures be permanent ones. There had also been spiritual healers and numbers of people had apparently been cured. He thought the medical profession should be congratulated on the stand it had taken on the question. Mr. J. [Boyce thougiht Mi?. Ryder

had- not asked for anything unreasonable and supported the Tequest for an address at the annual conference of Boards.

Mr. G. P. Catley asked what fear • chiropractic patients should have of the medical profession if they had been

cured of their ills?

Mr. Eyder: Undoubtedly a chiropractor can diagnose ten thousand »times better than a doctor. All you have to do is to walk into a chiropractor and he will tell you whether your liver is out of order, or what ever else you may be suffering from without ■ you even opening your mouth. The chairman said he did not know whether it would benefit chiropractics to have an address. There was a great deal-of difference between Hospital Boards and doctors and Teally it was a dispute between the doctors and chiropractors. Mr. Hornblow said he couldnot understand how a medical man with six years training could not diagnose a case equally as well as a chiropractor. He didn't want to dishearten Mr. Ryder but the matter didn't really

affect' the Board and lie didn't think V j\there was any hope of the Act being amended so as to allow a body of lay- ,-' men into hospitals. • Mr. Ryder: The chiropractor's only '■: instruments are his hands. He claimed

that sanitoria to-day would not be so full if the patients were in the hands of chiropractors instead of the medical men. If a displaced vertebrae could affect the sight of an eye surely it could affect other organs of the body also. If nobody moved what could be done, Mr. Hornblow: What can we do?

Mr. Ryder: We must be up and doing. When we have an out of date machine in business we scrap it. If the medical profession is out of date on nerve troubles then we should scrap it for a new science if it can do what is claimed.

Mr. Hornblow thought it peculiar that if the science-was doing what had been claimed, the medical profession had not received it with open arms. Mr. Hornblow suggested tha't the chiropractors'■ association write to the Hospital Association for permission to address the 1 next conference. He was afraid the Board would not pass on the suggestion.'

Mr. Ryder: ' This is my life's object. Mr. Mansford thought that the Board might be looking for trouble if it interfered where the medical profession was concerned. He did not think any remit should go forward. Mr. Ryder said the Chiropractors' Association wanted recognition in law so that they could set a standard of practice. At present there were qualified men t and those who were not. In answer to Mr. Monk, he said that so far as he knew the Association had not approached the Government for recognition. They were waiting for some man like himself to push their case forward.

Mr. Monk: Then you want to be in Parliament. (-Laughter*). , Mr. Ryder added that if, after hearing an address on the subject by a qualified operator,- the .Board was agreed that the science was in the interests of suffering humanity, then it could press for its introduction into hospitals. ' The Board eventually decided to allow the President of the ■Chiropractors'' Association to address the Board at a later date, an invitation to be present to be extended to the medical profession with permission to ask questions.

Mt. Hornblow complimented Mr. Ryder on his earnestness in the matter. Any one who showed such a desire to relieve suffering humanity was to be commended.