Let’s talk about crack

The Adjustment Isn’t the Answer (And It Never Was)

By Dr. Wu | Sports Chiropractor, Founder of The Sports Pod

I’m sitting here in another continuing education seminar — one of the many I’ve had to attend over the last decade to maintain my chiropractic license. Sixteen hours a year, every year. And while I’ll admit that these seminars have slightly improved over the years — with more evidence-based content and nods to actual science — I’m still sitting in a room full of people who think the pinnacle of our profession is cracking a damn back.

It drives me fucking insane.

Chiropractic, as a profession, is stuck. Not because we lack intelligence or compassion. Not because we don’t care about our patients. But because we have a collective hard-on for the adjustment — this holy grail manual skill that’s treated like a goddamn superpower. We’ve built entire identities around it, entire practices around it, hell, even entire seminar weekends like this one where people would rather debate the biomechanics of a C1 rotary thrust than talk about actual clinical reasoning.

Here’s the thing: adjusting is one tool. It’s a variable. It’s not the whole damn game.

Let me be clear — I adjust my athletes. I believe in the value of a well-performed manipulation when it’s the right tool for the job. But if your entire identity as a clinician hinges on your ability to cavitate a joint, then we are not the same. I’m not impressed by your “magic hands.” I’m impressed by your brain.

Give me a doctor who:

• Takes a great history and understands why that history matters.

• Runs a proper orthopedic and neurological exam without skipping steps.

• Thinks logically and systematically through differential diagnoses.

• Knows anatomy and biomechanics cold — not memorized for a test, but internalized through reps.

• Understands the latest science in pain, load management, recovery, and movement.

• Can explain to an athlete what’s going on and why it matters.

That in my opinion is a excellent Doctor.

But what I’m seeing is that we’re still obsessed with the past. Still clutching onto the ghost of D.D. Palmer like he’s a prophet, instead of realizing he was a product of his time. It’s like baseball, in a way — this beautiful sport that’s slow to change and resistant to innovation. Chiropractic’s version of “tradition” is just a long list of outdated ideas we’re too scared to let go of.

We’re better than that. We have to be.

Because if we want to push this profession forward — if we actually care about being respected in the broader healthcare ecosystem — then we need to raise our standards. We need to stop fetishizing the adjustment and start obsessing over clinical excellence. That starts in schools. That starts in our seminars. That starts in the conversations we have with each other.

Instead, I’m here at a CE seminar where it took over an hour before we talked about anything remotely scientific. The first 60 minutes were filled with rah-rah cheerleading about the power of the adjustment, the magic of the subluxation, and all the other nostalgic bullshit that makes chiropractors feel warm and fuzzy but doesn’t move us — or our patients — forward.

We’re clapping for tradition instead of challenging it. We’re celebrating our echo chamber instead of expanding our expertise.

And listen, I get it. This post isn’t going to resonate with everyone. Some people are perfectly happy delivering the same care they did 15 years ago. That’s fine. But that’s not me, and that’s not The Sports Pod. We’re here to serve athletes — high-performing, curious, demanding humans who deserve better than a “crack and go” treatment model. They deserve doctors who think. Who adapt. Who evolve.

So this is my challenge — to myself, to our team, and to any sports chiropractor who sees a higher ceiling for what we do:

Be better than the pop. Study harder than the guy next to you. Understand your craft like it’s a science, not a superstition.

Because at the end of the day, being a great sports chiropractor isn’t about how loud your adjustment is. It’s about how deeply you understand what your athlete is going through — and what they actually need.

Let’s move forward.