I went to a “cosmetic chiropractor” who promised to make me more beautiful, and here’s what happened

Dr. Liza Egbogah (“Dr. Liza” to her patients) is a downtown chiropractor whose high-wattage clientele has included Jamie Foxx, David Oyelowo and Emmanuelle Chriqui. After years of having patients tell her that her treatments had aesthetic benefits—they didn’t just feel better; they looked better—Dr. Liza saw an opportunity.

The claim

Cosmetic chiropractic treatments that entail spinal adjustments and deep-tissue massages, purportedly making you more beautiful. One treatment, the “tummy tuck,” normalizes your pelvic tilt, creating the impression of a flatter tummy; another, the “anti-gravity,” is meant to improve poor posture. I tried the latter, plus the “face lift,” which is a facial massage that Dr. Liza promises will eliminate wrinkles, puffy eyes and double chins.

The cost

Each treatment is $275 for 60 minutes; a round of four treatments costs $1,000.

The procedure

The anti-gravity is much like a standard deep-tissue back massage, albeit one with a lot of popping and cracking as my joints and muscles are manipulated in and out of place. For the face lift, Dr. Liza applies pressure—quite a lot, in fact: it’s a bit painful—to the muscles around my face using a circular massaging motion that she says she developed just for the procedure (I ask if I can replicate it at home, but she says it’s more complicated than it feels).

The result

The anti-gravity did affect my posture—I stood, sat and walked straighter and taller—but only for a few hours. The face lift, in super model parlance, made me smize, but that was also short-lived.

The verdict

Your mother was right: Standing up straight makes you look better, and if you look like Tyra Banks, smizing can be sexy. But at $275 a pop, the treatments are best reserved for a special-occasion splurge.