On July 22nd, 2023, Doctor Rob Sleiman – General Director cum Medical Director of ACC clinic – a member of FV group, had a meeting and professional exchange with medical professionals in the Ho Chi Minh City healthcare community. During the meeting, Dr. Rob shared his experience and real treatment results in Vietnam over the past 12 years, as well as the appropriate application of Chiropractic, Physical Therapy – Rehabilitation, and Medical Foot Grade Orthotics in treating acute and chronic musculoskeletal disorders – especially spinal conditions.
Not anyone can become a Chiropractor
Currently, on various media platforms and social networks, there are videos showing spinal adjustments with cracking sounds that have attracted a lot of attention, especially from people with “unstable spines.” However, despite positive reactions from the public, this kind of spinal adjustment has faced criticism and suspicion from medical professionals within the healthcare community.
Answering the question “Can anyone become a Chiropractor?“, Dr. Rob straightforwardly shared, “Chiropractic professionals must undergo at least three years of undergraduate study, then be eligible to enroll in a Doctor of Chiropractic degree program, which can take anywhere from three and a half to five years to complete and requires a minimum of 4,200 instructional hours. As of now, specialized Chiropractic training programs are only available in the UK, France, the USA, Canada, and Australia.”
Therefore, fully trained and licensed Chiropractic professionals, when performing spinal adjustments, require absolute care and precision to ensure patient safety. Moreover, these professionals will target specific misaligned joints in the spine and body with utmost accuracy to achieve optimal effectiveness. Thus, the presence of the cracking sound is not a mandatory factor to evaluate whether the bones and vertebrae have returned to their correct positions or not.
Personalized Methods, not a “one-size-fits-all” approach
According to Dr. Rob, the treatment using Chiropractic, Physical Therapy, and Rehabilitation will be personalized for each patient and their specific condition. Each patient will be assessed by Chiropractic professionals based on their medical history, pain symptoms, biomechanics movements, and body reflexes, as well as the condition of their bones, joints, and discs, as seen on X-rays or MRIs. Based on these, the most suitable methods will be chosen for each individual.
Similarly, for cases of flat feet, medical orthotics will be custom-made for each person, considering the degree of flatness and other relevant factors, as determined by specialized professionals. Positive results in treating flat feet in children can be achieved with active cooperation from the child and parents. The child needs to wear medical orthotics and be physically active for several hours a day to achieve the best outcome. Additionally, specialized exercises for flat feet play a vital role in the child’s treatment process.
For certain cases of flat feet causing imbalance in the spine or scoliosis, Dr. Rob further explained that a combination of using customized foot orthotics along with Chiropractic can be applied to readjust the balance in the child’s body. Rehabilitation methods will also be carefully considered and prescribed by the doctors to achieve positive treatment outcomes.
Discussion and Demonstration of Chiropractic
To help medical professionals in the healthcare community better understand and visualize the effectiveness of Chiropractic, Physical Therapy, Rehabilitation, and Medical Orthotics, Dr. Rob discussed various successful treatment cases from his many years of practice in Vietnam.
Later that afternoon, ACC clinic located on 99 Nguyen Du Street, District 1, HCMC hosted medical professionals for a tour and an experience of its modern and well-equipped facilities. Subsequently, Dr. Rob personally demonstrated the Chiropractic spinal adjustment technique for the attending medical professionals.