Chiropractic Contributions by sshowalter

Chiropractic spinal manipulation is one of the most popular treatments for acute and chronic back pain and sciatica in the US. For sciatica specifically, a chiropractor can help realign the spine and possibly alleviate the pressure irritating the sciatic nerve. More research need be done to determine if chiropractic manipulation is more effective than standard medical care. Chiropractic care is proven by medical research to be more effective than placebo.^49,50,76

Chiropractic spinal manipulation is one of the most popular treatments for acute and chronic back pain and sciatica in the US. For sciatica specifically, a chiropractor can help realign the spine and possibly alleviate the pressure irritating the sciatic nerve. Research evidence has yet failed to find chiropractic manipulation to be convincingly More research need be done to determine if chiropractic manipulation is more effective than standard medical care, but much more research still need be done. Chiropractic care does seem is proven by medical research to be more effective than placebo.^49,50,76

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A single-blind, controlled study of 84 people suffering from low back pain compared chiropractic manipulation to treatment with a diathermy machine (a physical therapy machine that uses microwaves to create heat beneath the skin) that was not actually functioning.¹⁶ The researchers asked the participants to assess their own pain levels within 15 minutes of the first treatment, then 3 and 7 days after treatment. The only statistically significant difference between the two groups was within 15 minutes of the manipulation chiropractic had better results.

In another single-blind, placebo-controlled study, researchers assigned 209 participants to one of three groups: a high-velocity, low-amplitude (HVLA) spinal manipulation; a sham manipulation group; or a back education program.¹⁷ Though this has been reported as a positive study,¹⁸ most of the differences seen between the groups were too small to be statistically significant.

Unimpressive results were also seen in a well-designed study of 321 people with back pain, comparing chiropractic manipulation, a special form of physical therapy (the Mackenzie method), and the provision of an educational booklet in treating low back pain.²⁵ All groups improved to about the same extent.

Several studies evaluated the effectiveness of chiropractic manipulation combined with a different kind of treatment called mobilization, but they too found little to no benefit.^43,45,46

On a positive note, one study of 100 people with back pain and sciatica symptoms (pain down the leg due to disc protrusion) found that chiropractic manipulation was significantly more effective at relieving symptoms than sham chiropractic manipulation.⁵⁷

For low back pain, several studies have found that chiropractic is at least as helpful as other commonly used therapies, such as muscle relaxants, soft-tissue massage, and physical therapy.^22-26,51,74 Furthermore, in one well-designed study, 2 months of chiropractic spinal manipulation produced somewhat greater pain relief than exercise therapy, and this relative superiority endured to the 1-year follow-up point.⁴¹

Chiropractic spinal manipulation is one of the most popular treatments for acute and chronic back pain and sciatica in the US. For sciatica specifically, a chiropractor can help realign the spine and possibly alleviate the pressure irritating the sciatic nerve. More research need be done to determine if chiropractic manipulation is more effective than standard medical care. Chiropractic care is proven by medical research to be more effective than placebo.^49,50,76