Every so often I walk from my house to the local shopping strip, and when I do I usually go past the local chiropractic centre. And they have posters in their windows which make grandiose claims for chiroquacktic chiropractic manipulation that are just not borne out by any valid science. They claim to cure asthma, childhood colic, bedwetting and allergies... just by mangling your neck around the place. There is just no evidence for these claims. None.
They also claim that chiropractic is "250 times safer than anti-inflamatories". Whatever the fuck that's meant to mean, I can say this: staying in your house is safer than crossing the street, but it won't get your ass to the supermarket. And of course, chiropractic is not safe at all. Look up "cervical artery dissection" on pubmed one day. You'll be surprised. You might also want to check for amebiasis outbreaks, since many chiropractors question germ theory and fail to apply good sterile technique. Or clean the graffiti off their buildings.
Anyway, this fucking annoys me.
So, inspired by the awesome Bastard Sheep, I'm starting a small but fun campaign on FourSquare. Just to get warmed up.
Please, if you're on FourSquare, join me. Tip your local chiropractor with the text "Happily promotes bogus treatments. Avoid", and tag them with the word "quackery". Rinse, repeat. Later, we'll move on to the homeopaths, the naturopaths, the tarot card readers, the 'psychics' the reiki practitioners, the ayurvedic loons, the antivaccination nuts, the 'natural health' colleges that pump them into the community and your local Gloria Jeans.
Good luck, and feel free to friend me up on Foursquare.
Now, go forth and start tagging. Remember: "Happily promotes bogus treatments. Avoid" and "quackery"
Quick update 10-Aug-2010: need ammunition against chiropractors? Start with the skepticator search for "chiropractic"