Chiropractic

Chiropractic (from Greek chiro- χειρο- "hand-" + praktikós πρακτικός "concerned with action") is a complementary and alternative medicine health care profession that focuses on diagnosis, treatment and prevention of mechanical disorders of the musculoskeletal system and the effects of these disorders on the functions of the nervous system and general health. It emphasizes manual therapy including spinal adjustment and other joint and soft-tissue manipulation. Traditionally, it is based on the premise that a vertebral subluxation or spinal joint dysfunction can interfere with the nervous system and result in many different conditions of diminished health. Today, the progressive view examines the relationship between structure and function and its impact on neurological mechanisms in both health and disease.

Chiropractors usually obtain one of the following equivalent first professional degrees in chiropractic medicine (D.C. or D.C.M. or B.Chiro or M.Chiro). Chiropractors use a combination of treatments that are predicated on the specific needs of the individual patient. A chiropractor can develop and carry out a comprehensive treatment and management plan that can include spinal adjustments, soft tissue therapy, prescription of exercises, and health and lifestyle counseling.

Chiropractic was founded in 1895 by D. D. Palmer in the USA, and is practiced in more than 100 countries. Since its inception, chiropractic has been the subject of controversy within the profession and among the medical and scientific community, particularly regarding the metaphysical approach espoused by its founders and advocated by "straight" chiropractors. This same criticism may have been the catalyst that allowed some within the profession to emphasize primarily a neuromusculoskeletal approach in their educational curriculum, leading them away from the original metaphysical explanations of their predecessors towards more scientific ones.

Chiropractors have historically fallen into two main groups, "straights" and "mixers"; both groups contain recent off-shoots. Significant differences regarding scope of practice, claims made about spinal manipulation, and beliefs regarding professional integration, differentiate the various schools of thought and practice styles held within the profession.

Philosophy

Traditional and evidence-based chiropractic belief systems vary along a philosophical spectrum ranging from vitalism to materialism. These opposing philosophies have been a source of debate since the time of Aristotle and Plato. Vitalism, the belief that living things contain an element that cannot be explained through matter, was responsible for legally and philosophically differentiating chiropractic from conventional medicine and thereby helping ensure professional autonomy. Chiropractic also retains elements of materialism, the belief that all things have explanations, which forms the basis of science. Evidence-based chiropractic balances this dualism by emphasizing both the tangible, testable principle that structure affects function, and the untestable, metaphorical recognition that life is self-sustaining. The chiropractor's purpose is to foster the establishment and maintenance of an organism-environment dynamic that is the most conducive to functional well-being of the person as a whole. Principles such as holism, naturalism, therapeutic conservatism, critical rationalism, and thoughts from the phenomenological and humanistic paradigms form an important part of the philosophy of chiropractic"

Chiropractors can adopt or share vitalist, naturalist, or materialist viewpoints and emphasize a holistic, patient-centered approach that appreciates the multifactorial nature of influences (i.e. structural, chemical, and psychological) on the functioning of the body in health and disease and recognizes the dynamics and interplay between lifestyle, environment, and health. This holistic paradigm is also blended with a biopsychosocial approach, which is also emphasized in chiropractic care. In addition, chiropractors also retain naturopathic and naturalist principles that suggest decreased "host resistance" of the body facilitates the disease process and that natural interventions are preferable towards strengthening the host in its effort to optimize function and return to homeostasis. Chiropractic care primarily emphasizes manipulation and other manual therapies as an alternative than medications and surgery.

Chiropractors also commonly use nutrition, exercise, patient education, health promotion and lifestyle counseling as part of their holistic outlook towards preventive health care. Chiropractic's claim to improve health by improving biomechanical and neural function by the manual correction of joint and soft tissue dysfunctions of the neuromusculoskeletal system differentiates it from mainstream medicine and other complementary and alternative medicine (CAM) disciplines, but is also rooted, in part, in osteopathy and eastern medicine interventions. All chiropractic paradigms emphasize the spine as their focus, but their rationales for treatment vary depending on their particular belief system.

The philosophy of chiropractic also stresses the importance of prevention and primarily utilizes a pro-active approach and a wellness model to achieve this goal. For some, prevention includes a concept of "maintenance care" that attempts to "detect and correct" structural imbalances of the neuromusculoskeletal system while in its primary, or functional state. The objective is early identification of mechanical dysfunctions to prevent or delay permanent pathological changes.

In summary, the major premises regarding the philosophy of chiropractic include:

• Holism

• non-invasive, emphasizes patient's inherent recuperative abilities
• recognizes dynamics between lifestyle, environment, and health
• spine and health are related in an important and fundamental way, and this relationship is mediated through the nervous system.
• recognizes the centrality of the nervous system and its intimate relationship with both the structural and regulatory capacities of the body
• appreciates the multifactorial nature of influences (structural, chemical, and psychological) on the nervous system

• Conservatism

• balances the benefits against the risks of clinical interventions
• emphasizes non-invasive treatments to minimize risk with a preference to avoid surgery and medication
• recognizes as imperative the need to monitor progress and effectiveness through appropriate diagnostic procedures
• prevents unnecessary barriers in the doctor-patient encounter

• Manual and biopsychosocial approaches

• strives toward early intervention, emphasizing timely diagnosis and treatment of reversible conditions before loss of functionality
• emphasizes a patient-centered model in which the patient is considered to be indispensable in, and ultimately responsible for, the maintenance of health
• approach of improving health through influencing function through structure primarily via manual therapies

Treatment procedures

Main article: Chiropractic treatment techniques

Procedures received by more than 1/3 of patients of licensed U.S. chiropractors (2003 survey)

procedure	% of DCs using it	% of patients receiving it
Diversified (full-spine manipulation)	96.2	71.5
Physical fitness/exercise promotion	98.3	64.9
Corrective or therapeutic exercise	98.3	63.2
Ergonomic/postural advice	97.3	61.9
Self-care strategies	96.6	60.6
Activities of daily living	96.6	57.9
Changing risky/unhealthy behaviors	96.6	54.9
Nutritional/dietary recommendations	97.7	51.8
Relaxation/stress reduction recommendations	96.4	50.1
Ice pack/cryotherapy	94.5	48.5
Extremity adjusting	95.4	46.8
Trigger point therapy	91.0	45.3
Disease prevention/early screening advice	90.8	39.7

Spinal manipulation is the most common modality in chiropractic care. The medicinal use of spinal manipulation can be traced back over 3000 years to ancient Chinese writings. Hippocrates, the "father of medicine" used manipulative techniques, as did the ancient Egyptians and many other cultures. A modern re-emphasis on manipulative therapy occurred in the late 19th century in North America with the emergence of the osteopathic medicine and chiropractic medicine. Spinal manipulation gained mainstream recognition during the 1980s (see History). In the U.S., chiropractors perform over 90% of all manipulative treatments and consider themselves to be expertly qualified providers of spinal adjustment, manipulation and other manual treatments.

Manipulation under anesthesia or MUA is a specialized manipulative procedure that typically occurs in hospitals administered under general anaesthesia. Typically, it is performed on patients who have failed to respond to other forms of treatment.

Schools of thought and practice styles

Common themes to chiropractic care include holistic, conservative and non-medication approaches via manual therapy. Still, significant differences exist amongst the practice styles, claims and beliefs between various chiropractors. Those differences are reflected in the varied viewpoints of multiple national practice associations.

Straight

Straight chiropractors are the oldest movement. They adhere to the philosophical principles set forth by D. D. and B. J. Palmer, and retain metaphysical definitions and vitalistic qualities. Straight chiropractors believe that vertebral subluxation leads to interference with an Innate intelligence within the human nervous system and is a primary underlying risk factor for almost any disease. Straights view the medical diagnosis of patient complaints (which they consider to be the "secondary effects" of subluxations) to be unnecessary for treatment. Thus, straight chiropractors are concerned primarily with the detection and correction of vertebral subluxation via adjustment and do not "mix" other types of therapies. Their philosophy and explanations are metaphysical in nature and prefer to use traditional chiropractic lexicon (i.e. perform spinal analysis, detect subluxation, correct with adjustment, etc.). They prefer to remain separate and distinct from mainstream health care.

Mixer

Range of belief perspectives in chiropractic

perspective attribute	potential belief endpoints
scope of practice:	narrow ("straight") ←	→ broad ("mixer")
diagnostic approach:	intuitive ←	→ analytical
philosophic orientation:	vitalistic ←	→ materialistic
scientific orientation:	descriptive ←	→ experimental
process orientation:	implicit ←	→ explicit
practice attitude:	doctor/model-centered ←	→ patient/situation-centered
professional integration:	separate and distinct ←	→ integrated into mainstream

Mixer chiropractors are an early offshoot of the straight movement. This branch "mixes" diagnostic and treatment approaches from naturopathic, osteopathic, medical, and chiropractic viewpoints. Unlike straight chiropractors, mixers believe subluxation is one of the many causes of disease, and they incorporate mainstream medical diagnostics and employ myriad treatments including joint and soft tissue manipulation, electromodalities, physical therapy, exercise-rehabilitation and other complementary and alternative approaches such as acupuncture. In contrast to straight chiropractors, mixers generally want to be integrated into mainstream health care via integrative medicine.

Scope of practice

It is generally not within the scope of practice of chiropractors to write medical prescriptions. A notable exception is the state of Oregon, which allows chiropractors with additional qualifications to prescribe over-the-counter drugs. Traditionally, chiropractors have opposed prescription drugs, but in a 2003 survey of North American chiropractors a slight majority supported limited prescription rights. Depending on the country or state in which a chiropractic school is located, some chiropractors may obtain additional training to perform minor surgery or proctology. When indicated, the doctor of chiropractic consults with, co-manages with, or refers to other health care providers.

Education, licensing, and regulation

Main articles: Chiropractic education and List of chiropractic schools

Today, there are 15 accredited Doctor of Chiropractic programs in 18 locations in the USA and two in Canada, and an estimated 70,000 chiropractors in the USA, 6500 in Canada, 2500 in Australia, 2,381 in the UK, and smaller numbers in about 50 other countries.

Utilization and satisfaction rates

Chiropractic is the largest alternative medical profession in the U.S. The percentage of population that utilize chiropractic care at any given time generally fall into a range from 6% to 12% in the U.S. and Canada, with a global high of 20% in Alberta. The vast majority who seek chiropractic care do so for relief from back and neck pain and other neuromusculoskeletal complaints; most do so specifically for low back pain. Complementary and alternative medicine (CAM) practitioners such as chiropractors are often used as a complementary form of care to primary medical intervention. Satisfaction rates are typically higher for chiropractic care compared to medical care, with quality of communication seeming to be a consistent predictor of patient satisfaction with chiropractors. Despite high patient satisfaction scores, utilization of chiropractic care is sensitive to the costs incurred by the co-payment by the patient. The use of chiropractic is growing modestly; CAM as a whole is seeing wholesale increases. Employment of U.S. chiropractors is expected to increase 14% between 2006 and 2016, faster than the average for all occupations.

History

Main articles: Chiropractic history and Vertebral subluxation

File:Ddpalmer3.jpg

D.D. Palmer

Chiropractic (also known as Chiropractic Medicine) was founded in 1895 by Canadian-American Daniel David Palmer in Davenport, Iowa, USA. D.D. Palmer gave the first spinal adjustment to a deaf janitor, Harvey Lillard, on September 18, 1895, reportedly resulting in a restoration of the man's hearing. Palmer hypothesized that manual manipulation of the spine could result in improved neurological function and health. Friend and Rev. Samuel Weed suggested combining the words cheiros and praktikos (meaning "done by hand") and chiropractic was born.

Vertebral subluxation

Palmer hypothesized that vertebral joint misalignments, which he termed "vertebral subluxations," interfered with the body's function and its inborn (innate) ability to heal itself. D.D. Palmer repudiated his earlier theory that vertebral subluxations caused pinched nerves in the intervertebral spaces in favor of subluxations causing altered nerve vibration, either too tense or too slack, affecting the tone (health) of the end organ. D.D. Palmer, using a vitalistic approach, imbued the term subluxation with a metaphysical and philosophical meaning. He qualified this by noting that knowledge of innate intelligence was not essential to the competent practice of chiropractic. This concept was later expanded upon by his son, B.J. Palmer and was instrumental in providing the legal basis of differentiating chiropractic medicine from conventional medicine. In 1910, D.D. Palmer theorized that the nervous system controlled health:

"Physiologists divide nerve-fibers, which form the nerves, into two classes, afferent and efferent. Impressions are made on the peripheral afferent fiber-endings; these create sensations that are transmitted to the center of the nervous system. Efferent nerve-fibers carry impulses out from the center to their endings. Most of these go to muscles and are therefore called motor impulses; some are secretory and enter glands; a portion are inhibitory their function being to restrain secretion. Thus, nerves carry impulses outward and sensations inward. The activity of these nerves, or rather their fibers, may become excited or allayed by impingement, the result being a modification of functionality—too much or not enough action—which is disease."

The concept of subluxation remains unsubstantiated and largely untested, and a debate about whether to keep it in the chiropractic paradigm has been ongoing for decades. In general, critics of traditional subluxation-based chiropractic (including chiropractors) are skeptical of its clinical value, dogmatic beliefs and metaphysical approach. While straight chiropractic still retains the traditional vitalistic construct espoused by the founders, evidence-based chiropractic suggests that a mechanistic view will allow chiropractic care to become integrated into the wider health care community. This is still a continuing source of debate within the chiropractic profession as well, with some schools of chiropractic (for example, Palmer School of Chiropractic) still teaching the traditional/straight subluxation-based chiropractic, while others (for example, Canadian Memorial Chiropractic College) have moved towards an evidence-based chiropractic that rejects metaphysical foundings and limits itself to primarily neuromusculoskeletal conditions but retains a holistic approach and an emphasis on manual therapy. As of 2005, the chiropractic subluxation was defined by the World Health Organization as "A lesion or dysfunction in a joint or motion segment in which alignment, movement integrity and/or physiological function are altered, although contact between joint surfaces remains intact. It is essentially a functional entity, which may influence biomechanical and neural integrity." "This definition is different from the current medical definition, in which subluxation is a significant structural displacement, and therefore visible on static imaging studies." According to a 2002 survey, 68% of chiropractors believed that "most diseases are caused by spinal malalignment," although only 30% agreed that "subluxation was the cause of many diseases."

Medical opposition

In 1899, a medical doctor in Davenport, USA, named Heinrich Matthey started a campaign against drugless practitioners. D.D. Palmer insisted that his techniques did not need the same courses or license as medical doctors, as his graduates did not prescribe drugs, perform surgery or evaluate laboratory diagnostics. However, in 1906, D.D. Palmer was convicted for practicing medicine without a license. In response, B.J. created the Universal Chiropractic Association (UCA) for the purpose of protecting its members by covering their legal expenses should they get arrested for practicing medicine.

File:BJPalmer2.jpg

BJ Palmer, Developer of Chiropractic, 1882-1961

Its first case came in 1907, when Shegataro Morikubo, DC was charged with unlicensed practice of osteopathic medicine in Wisconsin. Morikubo was freed using the defense that chiropractic philosophy was different from osteopathic philosophy. The victory reshaped the development of the chiropractic profession, which then marketed itself as a science, an art and a philosophy. This began a longstanding feud between chiropractors and medical doctors that would culminate in the mid 1980's in a landmark case, Wilk et al. vs American Medical Association (AMA). Until 1983, the AMA held that it was unethical for medical doctors to associate with an "unscientific practitioner", and labeled chiropractic "an unscientific cult". In 1984, Joseph Janse, DC, ND, attempted to describe the divide in chiropractic and medical philosophy regarding prevention and patient care:

"Unless pathology is demonstrable under the microscope, as in the laboratory or by roentgenograms, to them [medical doctors] it does not exist. For years the progressive minds in chiropractic have pointed out this deficiency. With emphasis they [chiropractors] have maintained the fact that prevention is so much more effective than attempts at a cure. They pioneered the all-important principle that effective eradication of disease is accomplished only when it is in its functional (beginning) phase rather than its organic (terminal) stage. It has been their contention that in general the doctor, the therapist and the clinician have failed to realize exactly what is meant by disease processes, and have been satisfied to consider damaged organs as disease, and to think in terms of sick organs and not in terms of sick people. In other words, we have failed to contrast disease with health, and to trace the gradual deteriorization along the downward path, believing almost that mild departures from the physiological normal were of little consequence, until they were replaced by pathological changes…"

Wilk et al. vs. American Medical Association

Chester A. Wilk, DC from Chicago initiated an antitrust suit against the AMA and other medical associations in 1976 - Wilk et al. vs AMA et al. The landmark lawsuit ended in 1987 when the US District Court found the AMA guilty of conspiracy and restraint of trade; the Joint Council on Accreditation of Hospitals and the American College of Physicians were exonerated. The court recognized that the AMA had to show its concern for patients, but was not persuaded that this could not have been achieved in a manner less restrictive of competition, for instance by public education campaigns. A summary of the court's opinion concluded:

"Evidence at the trial showed that the defendants took active steps, often covert, to undermine chiropractic educational institutions, conceal evidence of the usefulness of chiropractic care, undercut insurance programs for patients of chiropractors, subvert government inquiries into the efficacy of chiropractic, engage in a massive disinformation campaign to discredit and destabilize the chiropractic profession and engage in numerous other activities to maintain a medical physician monopoly over health care in this country."

On February 7, 1990, the AMA lost its appeal, and could no longer prevent medical physicians from collaborating with chiropractors.

Movement toward science

In 1975, chiropractors joined medical and scientific attendees in a workshop sponsored by the National Institutes of Health on the research status of spinal manipulation. In 1978, the Journal of Manipulative & Physiological Therapeutics (JMPT) was launched. in 1983 the JMPT published an article advocating "a scientific institution with some capability for research" and was considered the beginning of the scientific chiropractic movement . Spinal manipulative therapy gained recognition by mainstream medicine during the 1980s.

Scientific investigation

Two chiropractic belief system constructs

THE TESTABLE PRINCIPLE		THE UNTESTABLE METAPHOR
Chiropractic Adjustment		Universal Intelligence
↓		↓
Restoration of Structural Integrity		Innate Intelligence
↓		↓
Improvement of Health Status		Body Physiology
MATERIALISTIC:		VITALISTIC:
— operational definitions possible		— origin of holism in chiropractic
— lends itself to scientific inquiry		— cannot be proven or disproven

In chiropractic's early years, influences from both straight and mixer concepts were incorporated into its construct. Chiropractic has both materialistic qualities that lend themselves to scientific investigation and vitalistic qualities that do not.

In 1994 and 1995, half of all grant funding to chiropractic researchers was from the US Health Resources and Services Administration (7 grants totaling $2.3 million). The Foundation for Chiropractic Education and Research (11 grants, $881,000) and the Consortium for Chiropractic Research (4 grants, $519,000) accounted for most of the rest. By 1997, there were 14 peer-reviewed chiropractic journals in English that encouraged the publication of chiropractic research, including The Journal of Manipulative and Physiological Therapeutics (JMPT), Topics in Clinical Chiropractic, and the Journal of Chiropractic Humanities. However, of these, only JMPT is indexed in MEDLINE. Research into chiropractic, whether from Universities or chiropractic colleges, is however often published in many other scientific journals.

While there is still debate about the effectiveness of manipulation for the many conditions in which it is applied, it seems to be most effective for acute low back pain and tension headaches. One small pilot study has shown that upper cervical spinal manipulation may be beneficial for certain types of hypertension.

When testing the efficacy of health treatments, double blind studies are considered acceptable scientific rigor. These are designed so that neither the patient nor the doctor knows whether they are using the actual treatment or a placebo (or "sham") treatment. However, chiropractic treatment involves a manipulation; "sham" procedures cannot be easily devised for this, and even if the patient is unaware whether the treatment is a real or sham procedure, the doctor cannot be unaware. Thus there may be "observer bias" - the tendency to see what you expect to see, and the potential for the patient to wish to report benefits to "please" the doctor. Similarly, it is often difficult to devise a sham procedure for surgical procedures, but it is not impossible. It is also a problem in evaluating treatments; even when there are objective outcome measures, the placebo effect can be very substantial. Thus, DCs have historically relied mostly on their own clinical experience and the shared experience of their colleagues, as reported in case studies, to direct their treatment methods. Consequently there has been a call to increase qualitative research studies that can better examine the whole chiropractic clinical encounter.

The Manga Report

The Manga Report was an outcomes-study funded by the Ontario Ministry of Health and conducted by three health economists led by Professor Pran Manga. The Report supported the scientific validity, safety, efficacy, and cost-effectiveness of chiropractic for low-back pain, and found that chiropractic care had higher patient satisfaction levels than conventional alternatives. The report states that "The literature clearly and consistently shows that the major savings from chiropractic management come from fewer and lower costs of auxiliary services, fewer hospitalizations, and a highly significant reduction in chronic problems, as well as in levels and duration of disability."

Workers' compensation studies

In 1998, a study of 10,652 Florida workers' compensation cases was conducted by Steve Wolk. He concluded that "a claimant with a back-related injury, when initially treated by a chiropractor versus a medical doctor, is less likely to become temporarily disabled, or if disabled, remains disabled for a shorter period of time; and claimants treated by medical doctors were hospitalized at a much higher rate than claimants treated by chiropractors." Similarly, a 1991 study of Oregon Workers' Compensation Claims examined 201 randomly selected workers' compensation cases that involved disabling low-back injuries: when individuals with similar injuries were compared, those who visited DCs generally missed fewer days of work than those who visited MDs.

A 1989 study analyzed data on Iowa state records from individuals who filed claims for back or neck injuries. The study compared benefits and the cost of care from MDs, DCs and DOs, focusing on individuals who had missed days of work and who had received compensation for their injuries. Individuals who visited DCs missed on average 2.3 fewer days than those who visited MDs, and 3.8 fewer days than those who saw DOs, and accordingly, less money was dispersed as employment compensation on average for individuals who visited DCs.

In 1989, a survey by Cherkin et al. concluded that patients receiving care from health maintenance organizations in the state of Washington were three times as likely to report satisfaction with care from DCs as they were with care from other physicians. The patients were also more likely to believe that their chiropractor was concerned about them.

American Medical Association (AMA)

In 1997, the following statement was adopted as policy of the AMA after a report on a number of alternative therapies. Specifically about chiropractic care it said,"Manipulation has been shown to have a reasonably good degree of efficacy in ameliorating back pain, headache, and similar musculoskeletal complaints." In 1992, the AMA stated "It is ethical for a physician to associate professionally with chiropractors provided that the physician believes that such association is in the best interests of his or her patient. A physician may refer a patient for diagnostic or therapeutic services to a chiropractor permitted by law to furnish such services whenever the physician believes that this may benefit his or her patient. Physicians may also ethically teach in recognized schools of chiropractic. (V, VI)"

British Medical Association

The British Medical Association notes that "There is also no problem with GPs referring patients to practitioners in osteopathy and chiropractic who are registered with the relevant statutory regulatory bodies, as a similar means of redress is available to the patient."

Safety

Chiropractic care in general is safe when employed skillfully and appropriately. Its primary therapeutic procedure, spinal manipulation, involves directed thrust to move a joint past its physiological range of motion without exceeding the anatomical limit. Manipulation is regarded as relatively safe, but as with all therapeutic interventions, complications can arise, and it has known adverse effects, risks and contraindications.

Spinal manipulation is associated with frequent, mild and temporary adverse effects, including new or worsening pain or stiffness in the affected region. They have been estimated to occur in 34% to 55% of patients, with 80% of them disappearing within 24 hours. Rarely, spinal manipulation, particularly on the upper spine, can also result in complications that can lead to permanent disability or death; these can occur in adults and children. The incidence of these complications is unknown, due to rarity, high levels of underreporting, and difficulty of linking manipulation to adverse effects such as stroke, a particular concern. Vertebrobasilar artery stroke is statistically associated with chiropractic services in persons under 45 years of age, but it is similarly associated with general practitioner services, suggesting that these associations are likely explained by preexisting conditions. These strokes after manipulation appear to be unpredictable and are an inherent, idiosyncratic, and rare complication of cervical spine manipulation.

Absolute contraindications to spinal manipulation are conditions that should not be manipulated; these contraindications include rheumatoid arthritis and conditions known to result in unstable joints. Relative contraindications are conditions where increased risk is acceptable in some situations and where low-force and soft-tissue techniques are treatments of choice; these contraindications include osteoporosis. Although most contraindications apply only to manipulation of the affected region, some neurological signs indicate referral to emergency medical services; these include sudden and severe headache or neck pain unlike that previously experienced.

Effectiveness

The effectiveness of chiropractic treatment depends on the type of chiropractic treatment used and on the problem the treatment is intended to address. Spinal manipulation therapy (SMT), chiropractic's characteristic treatment, is the focus of most of the scientific studies. Like many other medical procedures, SMT has not been rigorously proven to be effective. Many controlled clinical studies are available, but their results disagree, and they are typically of low quality. Available evidence covers the following conditions:

• Low back pain. Opinions differ on the efficacy of SMT for nonspecific or uncomplicated low back pain. A 2008 review found that SMT with exercise is as effective as medical care with exercise. A 2007 literature synthesis found good evidence supporting SMT for low back pain and supporting exercise for chronic low back pain; it also found fair evidence supporting customizable exercise programs for subacute low back pain, and supporting assurance and advice to stay active for subacute and chronic low back pain. Of four systematic reviews published between 2000 and May 2005, only one recommended SMT, and the most authoritative stated that it is no better than other interventions for back pain.

• Neck pain. There is no overall consensus on manual therapies for neck pain. A 2008 review found that many studies reported no significant difference in outcomes between patients using chiropractic manipulation and other therapies, such as mobilization or exercise. A 2007 review found that manipulation and mobilization are effective for neck pain. Of three systematic reviews published between 2000 and May 2005, one reached a positive conclusion, but the most authoritative stated that SMT is effective only when combined with other interventions such as exercise.

• Headache. A 2006 review found no rigorous evidence supporting SMT for tension headache. A 2005 review found that the evidence was weak for effectiveness of chiropractic manipulation for tension headache, and that it was probably more effective for tension headache than for migraine. Of three systematic reviews published between 2000 and May 2005, one found that SMT is as effective as other interventions, but others did not find conclusive evidence in favor of SMT.

• Whiplash. There is limited evidence supporting SMT for whiplash.

• Arms and legs. There is a small amount of research into the efficacy of chiropractic treatment for upper limbs, and a lack of higher-quality publications supporting chiropractic management of leg conditions. A 2007 literature synthesis found fair evidence supporting assurance and advice to stay active for sciatica and radicular pain in the leg.

• Scoliosis. There is very weak evidence for chiropractic care for adult scoliosis (curved or rotated spine).

• Other. A 2007 systematic review found that the entire clinical encounter (as opposed to just SMT) provides benefit to patients with asthma, cervicogenic dizziness, and baby colic, and that there is promising evidence for SMT for children with middle ear infection. The evidence from reviews is negative, or too limited to draw conclusions, for asthma, baby colic, bedwetting, dizziness, fibromyalgia, hypertension, jet lag, menstrual cramps, and premenstrual syndrome. Chiropractic treatment is used for many other conditions for which there is not enough evidence to make conclusions; these include acute urinary conditions, cancer pain, digestive system disorders including irritable bowel syndrome and peptic disorders, infectious and parasitic disease, nonspinal injuries, pregnancy-related conditions, respiratory conditions, and skin disease.

Vaccination

Although vaccination is one of the most cost-effective forms of prevention against infectious disease, it remains controversial within the chiropractic community. Most chiropractic writings on vaccination focus on its negative aspects, claiming that it is hazardous or ineffective. Evidence-based chiropractors have embraced vaccination, but a minority of the profession rejects it, as original chiropractic philosophy traces diseases to causes in the spine and states that diseases cannot be affected by vaccines. The American Chiropractic Association and the International Chiropractic Association support individual exemptions to compulsory vaccination laws, and a 1995 survey of U.S. chiropractors found that about a third believed there was no scientific proof that immunization prevents disease. The Canadian Chiropractic Association supports vaccination; surveys in Canada in 2000 and 2002 found that 40% of chiropractors supported vaccination, and that over a quarter opposed it and advised patients against vaccinating themselves or their children.

External links

• Chiropractic at Curlie