Current Scientific Evidence for Chiropractic Care.

Chiropractic as a profession dates back to the 1800’s, 1895 to be exact, when D.D. Palmer delivered the first chiropractic manipulation to a janitor in his building, supposedly curing his deafness. While that incident still remains unclear for some, the efficacy of chiropractic for musculoskeletal and nervous system complaints has been proven time and time again with a growing amount of scientific research. Within the last decade, thousands of randomized trials, cohort studies, meta-analyses and case studies have been released regarding chiropractic care. Here are summaries of just a few of those research articles that have been released within the last five years.

In August of 2022, Chu et al. released a retrospective review evaluating patients who had Persistent Spinal Pain Syndrome (PSPS-2) following lumbar surgery. The study looked at a total of 31 patients and found that those patients who received multi-modal chiropractic care saw a statistically significant improvement in both pain levels and function as evaluated by the Numeric Pain Rating Scale and Oswestry Low Back Questionnaire.

In April 2021, Holm et al. released single blind randomized control trial evaluating the effect of chiropractic care on infantile colic. There were 185 infants who completed the trial and it was found that 63% of the treatment group saw a reduction in excessive crying time of 1.5 hours.

In June 2020, Aki et al. released a study evaluating the effects of chiropractic care on chronic mechanical neck pain. The study was comprised of 40 patients aged 20-60 who had been experiencing neck pain for at least 3 months. Following a course of chiropractic care, it was found that patients experienced statistically significant decreases in pain and disability as well as increased ranges of motion.

In September of 2019, Kazis et al. released a retrospective cohort study evaluating patients with new onset low back pain. The study evaluated over 200,000 patients from 2008 to 2013 and found that patients who used chiropractic, physical therapy or acupuncture as their initial healthcare provider had a 90% decreased chance of both short and long term opioid usage.

In May of 2018, Goertz et al. released a clinical trial comparing the effectiveness of of chiropractic care versus usual medical care among US Service Members with low back pain. 750 active duty military members were enrolled in the study and it was found that after 6 weeks there was significant data in favor of chiropractic care in reducing pain levels and disability as well as improved pain medication usage and overall satisfaction.

References

Aki, Semih, et al. “Short-Term Effects of Chiropractic Application and Dry Needling Treatment on Chronic Mechanical Neck Pain.” Manuelle Medizin, vol. 58, no. 4-5, 2020, pp. 237– 245., https://doi.org/10.1007/s00337-020-00695-1.

Chu, Eric Chun-Pu, and Robert J. Trager. “Effectiveness of Multimodal Chiropractic Care Featuring Spinal Manipulation for Persistent Spinal Pain Syndrome Following Lumbar Spine Surgery: Retrospective Chart Review of 31 Adults in Hong Kong.” Medical Science Monitor, vol. 28, 2022, https://doi.org/10.12659/msm.937640.

Goertz, Christine M., et al. “Effect of Usual Medical Care plus Chiropractic Care vs Usual Medical Care Alone on Pain and Disability among US Service Members with Low Back Pain.” JAMA Network Open, vol. 1, no. 1, 2018, https://doi.org/10.1001/ jamanetworkopen.2018.0105.

Holm, Lise Vilstrup, et al. “The Effect of Chiropractic Care on Infantile Colic: Results from a Single-Blind Randomised Controlled Trial.” Chiropractic & Manual Therapies, vol. 29, no. 1, 2021, https://doi.org/10.1186/s12998-021-00371-8.

Kazis, Lewis E, et al. “Observational Retrospective Study of the Association of Initial Healthcare Provider for New-Onset Low Back Pain with Early and Long-Term Opioid Use.” BMJ Open, vol. 9, no. 9, 2019, https://doi.org/10.1136/bmjopen-2018-028633.

Can A Chiropractor Align Your Spine?

Millions of patients seek care from chiropractors each year and ever growing research supports the effectiveness of chiropractic care and its ability to decrease pain, decrease muscle spasm and increase mobility.  Chiropractors work with the musculoskeletal and nervous systems to restore normal function.  Improving spinal alignment however is not as simple as a single bone out of place and “popping” it back in.  Chiropractors look at both global and intersegmental ranges of motion to determine which areas are hypo-mobile (not moving enough) compared to those which are hyper-mobile (moving too much).  Areas which are considered hypo-mobile benefit from chiropractic manipulative therapy (CMT), AKA an adjustment, whereas hyper-mobile areas benefit from stability inducing rehabilitative exercises.

While chiropractors are widely known for adjustments, the modern chiropractor also uses a heavy emphasis on soft tissue work to improve spinal alignment.  The vast majority of spinal alignment issues are postural and a result of habitual and/or repetitive stressors.  One of the most common examples of this is Upper Crossed Syndrome, AKA “Tech-Neck.”  The average person spends 10-12 hours per day either working on a computer or looking down at their phone.  Over time, a muscle imbalance develops which causes a forward head carriage and rounding of the shoulders and upper back.  In addition to chiropractic adjustments, this imbalance requires the correct set of muscle works to loosen the tight musculature and activate/strengthen the weak musculature.  Tech-neck is just one of many postural imbalances which can affect spinal alignment.

So, can a chiropractor align your spine?  The simple answer is, yes.  However, contrary to popular belief it is much more than pushing a bone back into place. It takes a combination of chiropractic adjustments, soft tissue manipulation, rehabilitative exercises and most of all time and consistency.