Research

Numerous studies throughout the world have shown that chiropractic treatment, including manipulative therapy and spinal adjustments, is both safe and effective.

Many other studies have shown that chiropractic care can be a cost-effective remedy that brings healing in less time than other treatments. The California Chiropractic Association has compiled several studies that show which problems chiropractic can help. Some of them are as following:

For acute low-back problems

"For patients with acute low-back symptoms without radiculopathy, the scientific evidence suggests spinal manipulation is effective in reducing pain and perhaps speeding recovery within the first month of symptoms.”

- Clinical Practice Guidelines, AHCPR (1994)

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)

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)

“New research in The Journal of the American Medical Association today suggests that patients who opt for nonsurgical treatments can get the same benefits in pain reduction and function in the long term as those who chose surgery.” -ABC News 2010< http://abcnews.go.com/Health/story?id=2670812&page=1>

“...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, Penzlen, Hasselblad, Gray (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 blood pressure

The University of Chicago Medical Center published a study that reported “…individuals with a misaligned Atlas vertebra (located high in the neck) and high blood pressure showed that after a one-time specialized chiropractic adjustment, blood pressure decreased significantly. The decrease was equal to taking two blood-pressure drugs at once.” The results are published in the online March 2 issue of the Journal of Human Hypertension.

http://www.uchospitals.edu/news/2007/20070314-atlas.html

For containing costs and getting workers back on the job

“The overwhelming body of evidence” shows that chiropractic management of low-back pain is more cost-effective than medical management, and that “many medical therapies are of questionable validity or are clearly inadequate.” - The Manga Report (1993)

First contact chiropractic care for common low back conditions costs substantially less than traditional medical treatment and “deserves careful consideration” by managed care executives concerned with controlling health care spending. Medical Care, Stano and Smith (1996)

For lifestyle

1. Scientific research published in The British Medical Journal concluded, “long term chiropractic care has a direct effect on the quality of life.” British Medical Journal. August 1996

Research from Italy in 1987 concluded, “A most meaningful indicator of the effectiveness of chiropractic is the improvement is produces in the quality of life, not only because of its curative effect but also thanks to its preventative and rehabilitative functions.”