02/09/2026
Recently, I had the opportunity to be a guest on the “Spine Bros” podcast with neurosurgeon Dr. William Sonstein and orthopedic surgeon Dr. Richard Obedian.
What made the conversation especially meaningful was the open, honest discussion about spine care. While both physicians have always been friendly toward our office, they were genuinely curious about how chiropractic care fits into patient care and wanted to better understand its benefits, limitations, and safety. It was a pleasure to clarify a few common misconceptions and talk about how different specialties can, and should, work together for the patient’s best outcome.
One of the first topics we discussed was safety. Like any healthcare profession, rare adverse events might occur. Despite this, serious injuries related to chiropractic care are actually very uncommon. This is statistically proven by malpractice insurance rates. A typical chiropractor carrying a $3 million policy pays roughly $250 per month, and new doctors of chiropractic often pay only a few hundred dollars per year—rates that would not exist if serious injuries were common. When malpractice claims do occur, they are more often related to failure to diagnose, something that happens at similar rates in medical offices, rather than error on behalf of the chiropractor. Unfortunately, media and social platforms tend to amplify sensational stories, leaving the vast majority of positive outcomes unreported on.
We also talked about perception and outcome both in chiropractic care and spine surgery. Patients who have great results usually go on with their lives, return to work, enjoy their families, and don’t feel the need to talk about it publicly. Those who have a poor outcome—which is the exception, not the rule—often experience major life disruption and, understandably, speak out more, especially on social media.
After taking histories from thousands of patients, I have noticed that many who have had spinal surgery after exhausting conservative treatments such as chiropractic care, physical therapy, injections, ablations, and/or acupuncture reported that surgery ended up being the best decision they ever made. They were finally able to get back to living their lives, playing with their children or grandchildren, and functioning normally. Many of those same patients later return for chiropractic care for less severe or unrelated conditions.
I made it clear that spine surgeons truly change and save lives. Not only in emergencies, but by restoring quality of life so patients can move, function, and be happy again.
They also asked when I would not treat a patient and instead refer out immediately. Those situations are relatively rare and usually involve clear red flags such as fractures, bone infection or metastasis, abdominal aortic aneurysm, pulmonary embolism, renal disease, or loss of bowel or bladder control. With proper history, examination, and appropriate testing, these conditions can usually be identified early. In most cases, a trial of conservative care is appropriate, and when cases are complex or severe, collaboration with a surgeon is the right move.
If you’re interested in spine health, patient-centered care, and how different specialties can work together rather than against each other, I think you’ll find this conversation valuable.
This link is the entire podcast which is pretty long in the next several weeks I’m gonna be posting short clips or highlights from the podcast but you’re welcome to watch it in and it’s entirety below.
🎧 Podcast link below
Spotify:
https://open.spotify.com/episode/758VGqHbj4j9jjGfSsXHuV
Apple Podcasts:
https://podcasts.apple.com/.../spine-bros.../id1766757597
YouTube:
https://youtu.be/N7EG8tDicD4
In this episode of Spine Bros x Chiropractic, Dr. Walter Priestley joins the conversation to break down chiropractic care—what it is, how it works, and who c...
