Chiropractic research
Royal College of General Practitioners: Clinical Guidelines for the Management of Acute Low Back Pain
The Royal College of General Practitioners guidelines state that the effectiveness of manipulation is supported by strong evidence in 19 randomised controlled trials. Manipulation provides improvement in pain and activity levels and high patient satisfaction. The risks of manipulation are very low in skilled hands.
UK Beam Trial Team. (2004). Back pain, exercise and manipulation (UK BEAM) randomised trial: effectiveness of physical treatments for back pain in primary care, British Medical Journal, 329 (7479), p. 1377.
The cost effectiveness and efficacy in improving quality of life of adding spinal manipulation and/or exercise to GP care for back pain was measured. Spinal manipulation, with or without exercise, improved back pain symptoms more than exercise or GP care alone and spinal manipulation was the best value for money.
There is more clinical evidence to support the efficacy of chiropractic than any other complementary discipline. Here is just a taster of the peer-reviewed research:
Blokland, M .P. et al. (2000). Chiropractic treatment in workers with musculoskeletal complaints. Journal of Neuromusculoskeletal System, 8 (1), pp. 17-23.
Of the 103 employees presenting with musculoskeletal conditions referred to a chiropractor by their employers, every single person was able to either remain at work or had returned to work within eight treatments.
Meade, T.W., et al. (1990). Low back pain of mechanical origin: randomised comparison of chiropractic from hospital outpatient treatment, British Medical Journal, 300, pp. 1431-1437.
A UK study compared the effectiveness of chiropractic treatment to hospital outpatient treatment (physiotherapy). At two years, those treated by chiropractic had improved their pain-disability Owestry scores by 7 per cent more than hospital care. Those treated with chiropractic showed greater improvements in back mobility, pain-free days and lowered drug use. Only 21 per cent of those given chiropractic had time off work compared to 35 per cent of hospital patients.
Dr Jeffrey McTavishBSc (Hons) MSc (Chiro) MCC UCAThe Windsor Clinic171 Brighton RoadWorthingWest SussexBN11 2EXt: 01903 234490m: 07867 797363
