Ever since I've started explaining to patients that its unnecessary/ridiculous to wash your hands after going potty most patients will not shake hands with me and those that do give me a wet noodle grasp and a Yecch-look on their face. Please advise!

Yucky-in-Kentucky

Dear Yucky-in-Kentucky,

Of course, the reason for this reaction is that you have revealed your belief, but not changed theirs. Doing one without the other has placed you in the position of being a cootie carrier!

This is unfortunate in that you touch your patients for a living. Changing this is of utmost importance for you and your career.

On a whiteboard in your office, announce how many illness-free days you and your staff have enjoyed since your last bout with even a head cold, along with the date of your most recent adjustment. ("A cold may be common, but not around here!") Much like the tote board used in industrial settings showing the safety of the plant in terms of accident-free days, show how your chiropractic lifestyle helps avoid the "bugs-that-are-going-around" that seem to plague others with a subluxation-compromised immune system.

Ask your patients more germ-centered questions:
How do germs cause disease?
Why do some people exposed to germs get "it" and other don't?
How many different types of germs are in your mouth right now?
Why would the vaccinated be afraid of the unvaccinated?
What would happen if vaccinations were merely a modern day "rabbit's foot"?
What controls the effectiveness of your immune system?
If you needed to catch a cold, how would you do it?
Why do they call it the germ theory?
What did Louis Pasteur, father of the germ theory, confess on his deathbed? ("It's the soil, not the seed.")
How do you account for the fact that there are those who have survived virtually every disease known to man?
What's your plan to deal with the newest, antibiotic-resistant "super germs?"

The fact is, you've stumbled across one of the most profound issues stopping the typical patient from fully embracing chiropractic. Because few patients have spent the time to rigorously test the germ theory and uncover its shortcomings, they are more afraid of unseen germs than unseen subluxations.

Bill