Down the Rabbit Hole – The Renegade Coder

For a long time, I've tried to avoid sharing things that weren't code related on this site, but I've come to realize that creators deserve to be whole people. By that, I mean that we should be able to share about lives without catering to an attention maximizing algorithm. With that said, I wanted to kick off a series called "Down the Rabbit Hole" where I cover topics that have interested me outside of work. Today's topic? Chiropractors on YouTube and their effects on my YouTube recommendations. YouTube Chiropractors Are Strange It's not uncommon in 2021 for practitioners like doctors and lawyers to talk about their work on YouTube. For example, the two that come off the top of my head are Dr. Mike and Legal Eagle. Interestingly enough, they've collaborated: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m4stVVsKVRA As you can see, however, these folks aren't performing their job on camera. Instead, they tend to do a lot of the popular react-style content. I'm not knocking it! I love this kind of stuff. Interestingly, the chiropractor community—you know, the group that does the fancy spinal manipulations—does things a little differently. Specifically, they actually record their appointments and post them on YouTube as a form of ASMR content. Again, I'm not knocking it. In fact, I'm obsessed with it. That said, when you step back, it is a little weird. I mean I can't really imagine getting a doctor's appointment filmed for content, yet that's what's going on in the chiropractor community. Unfortunately, this style of content doesn't get picked up without some sort of bait, right? That's just the name of the game. You have to create content that the algorithm wants to push out. As a result, every chiropractor has their own way of attracting views from sensational titles to suggestive thumbnails. In the next section, we'll take a look at exactly what I'm talking about. An Overview of the Talent In the chiropractor community, there are a handful of prominent YouTubers (though there are probably dozens). Here are their channels: Mondragon ChiropracticChiropractic MedicineAdvanced Chiropractic Relief LLCDr. Beau Hightower I'm most familiar with these channels because they're the most recommended chiropractors in my YouTube feed, but I have scoured the database for others as well. We'll get to some of them later. Before we get there though, I think it's worth mentioning that I take a pretty lax stance on chiropractors. I know a lot of folks dismiss their work as pseudoscience (e.g., modern day witch doctors), but I tend to err on the side of "hey, if someone says it works for them, I trust them." I say this because I think human experience matters even if there isn't anything medically happening during the treatment. And hell, the research shows that chiropractic medicine does benefit folks with back pain. Regardless, I personally enjoy the feeling of having my back cracked, so I suppose I'm a bit biased in that way. With that said, let's talk about the four folks above. Mondragon Chiropractic https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SIdF4aFmmLQ I think my favorite chiropractor on YouTube is Mondragon Chiropractic. It's basically a one women show where the doctor runs through a chiropractic appointment on camera. I particularly like this chiropractor because she follows a pretty strict routine that involves about 50% spinal manipulations and 50% muscle work—though scraping seems a little off-putting. This diversity of techniques makes me trust that her patients are receiving better care than the average chiropractor. The other reason that I like Dr. Mondragon's videos is because she's very charismatic and empathetic. She always makes sure that her patients can tolerate any pain that is involved in the work, and I can tell that patients are generally happy with the results. Overall, I don't think Mondragon Chiropractic does anything too wild, but they do occasionally dabble in more esoteric treatments like acupuncture, sensory deprivation tanks, and cupping. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KYrmtodUvSw Again, I'm not trying to pass judgment on this kind of stuff because I know it helps people. That said, I think it's worth mentioning that it seems out of the scope of a chiropractor's work, but what do I know? Though, I do appreciate her using a wide array of techniques. Chiropractic Medicine https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uEqKeGa7sOo On the opposite end of the spectrum, there's Chiropractic Medicine. No disrespect to this guy and his work, but I just get weird vibes from him. Almost everyone one of his videos is with a young woman, and he's always wearing this strangely formal getup that include suspenders. I don't know. It weirds me out. Of course, he's not really helping his case with the way that he performs his work or the way he interacts with his patients. Let me give you some examples. First, I'll show you a video where the chiropractor asks the patient and her friend if they "menstruate at the same time." Then, he follows it up with this weird series of statements about synchronous breathing and heart beating driven by an electromagnetic field generated by the heart. The whole thing is very strange. See around 5:20 in the video below (not to mention the absolutely bizarre title): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zSWc-Bud-mA Also, his techniques in general are somewhat odd. In particular, he does this strange patting pattern on the upper and lower back for a long time before doing any adjustments. I have no idea what this is supposed to do, but he gets like 10 minutes of ASMR content out of it. You can check out the following video between 10:00 and 20:00 for what I mean: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qrNVuIHrmAg Beyond that, pretty much everything else he does is standard. Overall, I don't mind the guy. In fact, I still watch his videos from time to time because they're fairly soothing. That said, if you really pay attention to them, they give off strange vibes. Advanced Chiropractic Relief LLC https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i3FPnx4jF7Y If Chiropractic Medicine was strange, Advanced Chiropractic Relief LLC is off the charts. This is one of those chiropractors that I just refuse to watch for a variety of reasons. First, he runs every video as if everything he says is a matter of fact—much of which I question. For example, one of the focal points of his videos is the disparity in length of the legs, which he is more than happy to fix. It's seem like some weird carnival trick where he doesn't actually do anything but convinces you that he did. Second, every single video seems like a speedrun. Like there is very little space between adjustments. He just rapid fires them one after another, and this results in some pretty comical reactions from other YouTubers. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wjT7KTbcEJ4 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aT4L75qqol4 Finally, I just kind of get creepy vibes from the dude. I mean it's really hard not to when he talks about a woman's biomechanics. Dr. Beau Hightower https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RPj2DvXk--w We'll round out this list with one of my other favorite chiropractors: Dr. Beau Hightower. Unlike the previous three chiropractors, Beau works with a different type of patient, usually athletes. In addition, while his work includes the usual adjustments, he also uses this strange set of hammers to poke around muscle tissue. And, he's a pretty funny dude! In general, I don't have any complaints about his work. It's a nice mix of soft tissue and manipulations, and he's just generally a charismatic guy. In the handful of videos I've seen, he's usually talking up athletes, so you get to learn about somebody's life while you're at it. If I had to pick a favorite video, it would have to be this one: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s7Be05BJw-I There's just something about watching these enormous guys squirm that I love. Chiropractic Is a Gateway to ASMR In the previous section, I spent some time outlining four of the more popular chiropractic YouTubers. The interesting thing about them is that if you spend any amount of time watching them, YouTube takes notice. As a result, you're likely to bump into one of the weirder parts of YouTube: the ASMR community. These days, I spend multiple hours a day just listening to obscure ASMR massage videos from YouTubers like Shili and Timur Doctorov Live: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B37De7pKdOg https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f3d6xvtCK2A&t=15s Similarly, I've fallen down the rabbit hole that leads to ASMR barbers and shoe shiners like the videos that Volpe Where Are You makes: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IjxPpHI_GoE Recently, I've become a huge fan of the work of Indian Barber as well: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yX_PioMLfEE And of course, these videos lead to other even more obscure videos. For example, did you know that professional ear cleaning was a thing? What about reflexology? https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_EjEbvVrQjI Personally, I'm a fan of any of the types of ASMR that cover real experiences, but there's also probably a thousand channels that try to replicate these experiences using 3D audio recording. I tend not to watch those, but it's very hard to avoid them. That's for sure. Overall, while I would say these areas of YouTube are a bit strange, I've actually become somewhat addicted to them. For one, I love to learn new things, and it seems like every ASMR video teaches me something new. Likewise, I love to explore cultures, and much of the ASMR content comes from abroad. This gives me appreciation for the types of work that other folks are doing despite the many, many naysayers. For now, though, that's about as deep into the rabbit hole I'm willing to go. If you descend down this rabbit hole and find anything interesting, please let me know! Otherwise, I'll keep watching barber videos. With that said, take care! See you next time.