| Practicing in Portugal has been a great experience for me. It is easy to practice because the people of the country enjoy natural therapy in their search for health. However, health to the majority of the Portuguese means to be in a pain-free state only. Long before there were any practicing chiropractors in Portugal, the people used to go to their traditional back manipulator called the endereita. The word literally means “to straighten.” Even today, on occasion a patient will come to me after having gone to an endereita first. Inquiring into what they do, I am told that you sit in a chair and the endereita will then make some movements with his hands on your back and limbs according to your complaint. It appears that the endereita is the forefather of the chiropractor in Portugal as the bonesetter is the forefather of the chiropractor in England. Even though the Portuguese Chiropractors’ Association is pro-subluxation, there is a spectrum of practitioners that stretches from the left to the right. Chiropractors in Portugal have the freedom to practice as they want in this pre-regulation era. The regulatory process is still in midstream for complementary and alternative medicine in Portugal in 2007. To make people see the other side of the coin is rewarding; however, when we actually have patients making the lifestyle changes necessary to improve their overall health, it becomes fulfilling. The past dictatorship regime has limited free thinking and kept the general knowledge of the population low. This has created a large challenge in the teaching of patients about the wellness concept. The advent of cable and sky television has dramatically changed things to help us educate them. Awareness of the benefit of chiropractic for the little ones is also growing among the people. I have had several young mothers arrive with their newborn for a check-up. The mothers seem to realize that it is the right thing to do or perhaps it is all the information at the spinal care classes that has finally affected them. At the present moment there are twenty-four fully registered D.C.s with the association and another eight who are practicing but are not associated. We saw three of our doctors leave at the end of 2006. We anticipate the joining of the others either with full or with a supporting membership this year. This abstract is reproduced with the permission of the publisher. |
