In New Zealand chiropractors have the same legal standing as doctors and dentists. In fact, it is a little known fact that New Zealand led the world in chiropractic legislation. And that the New Zealand Commission of Inquiry into chiropractic, which found that chiropractors are highly trained healthcare professionals; Has actually guided chiropractic legislation the world over. NZ blazed a global trail in chiropractic legislation, the same way it did with the female vote. Good old NZ.

In 2023 chiropractic and chiropractors have the same legal standing as doctors and dentists in developed countries the world over. This is because of the exceptionally high standards of education that chiropractic colleges and universities provide. And the level of qualification in pain management this leads to in their graduates.

In addition to these professional credentials, we can now see definitively that there is plentiful research that shows chiropractic adjustments are an effective component of successful pain management.

So to the best of our knowledge, no one really knows why doctors still rarely recommend chiropractors. In the same way they do for physiotherapists who have a fraction of the same training. The only ones who can answer the question at this stage are doctors themselves. And the answer had better be a good one. Because disregarding chiropractors contradicts 40 year old government legislation that has never been questioned or repealed. 

Doctoring is a hard job and it’s hard for a family doctor to be an expert in everything. While pain management is a specialised area. So it’s somewhat understandable that all doctors feel confident to make referrals that they don’t understand particularly well themselves.