A great deal of research has been put into the field of Chiropractic, in general and in the development of particular techniques. The research cited below reflects studies done on the efficacity of chiropractic as treatment for many types of back pain and pain in general, for headaches, for the elderly, as well as research done to find out cost effectiveness and patient satisfaction.
More research has been done by medical institutes on subjects that relate to posture and other aspects of chiropractic and our other wellness treatments.
Numerous studies throughout the world have shown that chiropractic treatment, including manipulative therapy and spinal adjustment, is both safe and effective. Many other studies have shown that chiropractic care can contain costs and get workers back on the job in less time than other treatments. The following are excerpts from a few of the more recent studies:
For Acute Low-Back Problems
“Patients with chronic low-back pain treated by chiropractors showed greater improvement and satisfaction at one month than patients treated by family physicians. Satisfaction scores were higher for chiropractic patients. A higher proportion of chiropractic patients (56 percent vs. 13 percent) reported that their low-back pain was better or much better, whereas nearly one-third of medical patients reported their low-back pain was worse or much worse.”
– Journal of Manipulative and Physiological Therapeutics, Nyiendo et al (2000)
In a Randomized controlled trial, 183 patients with neck pain were randomly allocated to manual therapy (spinal mobilization), physiotherapy (mainly exercise) or general practitioner care (counseling, education and drugs) in a 52-week study. The clinical outcomes measures showed that manual therapy resulted in faster recovery than physiotherapy and general practitioner care. Moreover, total costs of the manual therapy-treated patients were about one-third of the costs of physiotherapy or general practitioner care.
-- British Medical Journal, Korthals-de Bos et al (2003)
For Long-Term Low-Back Problems "There is strong evidence that manipulation is more effective than a placebo treatment for chronic low-back pain or than usual care by the general practitioner, bed rest, analgesics and massage."
-- Spine, Van Tulder and Bouter et al. (1997)
"...improvement in all patients at three years was about 29% more in those treated by chiropractors than in those treated by the hospitals. The beneficial effect of chiropractic on pain was particularly clear."
-- British Medical Journal, Meade et al. (1995)
"Manipulative therapy and physiotherapy are better than general practitioner and placebo treatment. Furthermore, manipulative therapy is slightly better than physiotherapy after 12 months."
-- British Medical Journal, Koes et al. (1992)
For Pain
“The results of the literature review confirm the common clinical experience of doctors of chiropractic: neck manipulation is beneficial for patients with certain forms of chronic neck pain.”
--Journal of Manipulative and Physiological Therapeutics, Vernon et al. (2007)
"...patients suffering from back and/or neck complaints experience chiropractic care as an effective means of resolving or ameliorating pain and functional impairments, thus reinforcing previous results showing the benefits of chiropractic treatment for back and neck pain."
-- Journal of Manipulative and Physiological Therapeutics, Verhoef et al. (1997)
"...for the management of low-back pain, chiropractic care is the most effective treatment, and it should be fully integrated into the government's health care system."
-- The Manga Report (1993)
For Headaches “Cervical spine manipulation was associated with significant improvement in headache outcomes in trials involving patients with neck pain and/or neck dysfunction and headache.”
-- Duke Evidence Report, McCrory et al. (2001)
“The results of this study show that spinal manipulative therapy is an effective treatment for tension headaches. . . Four weeks after cessation of treatment . . . the patients who received spinal manipulative therapy experienced a sustained therapeutic benefit in all major outcomes in contrast to the patients that received amitriptyline therapy, who reverted to baseline values.” ‘
-- Journal of Manipulative and Physiological Therapeutics, Boline et al. (1995)
For the Elderly "[Elderly] chiropractic users were less likely to have been hospitalized, less likely to have used a nursing home, more likely to report a better health status, more likely to exercise vigorously, and more likely to be mobile in the community. In addition, they were less likely to use prescription drugs."
-- Topics in Clinical Chiropractic, Coulter et al. (1996)
Patient Satisfaction
“Chiropractic patients were found to be more satisfied with their back care providers after four weeks of treatment than were medical patients. Results from observational studies suggested that back pain patients are more satisfied with chiropractic care than with medical care. Additionally, studies conclude that patients are more satisfied with chiropractic care than they were with physical therapy after six weeks.”
-- American Journal of Public Health, Hertzman-Miller et al. (2002)
Popularity of Chiropractic
“Chiropractic is the largest, most regulated, and best recognized of the complementary and alternative medicine (CAM) professions. CAM patient surveys show that chiropractors are used more often than any other alternative provider group and patient satisfaction with chiropractic care is very high. There is steadily increasing patient use of chiropractic in the United States, which has tripled in the past two decades.”
– Annals of Internal Medicine, Meeker and Haldeman (2002)
