Chiropractic research is always needed to solidify results from real life patients. While we are aware of its benefits, having the research and findings to back up our claims being an alternative medicine is always helpful, needed, and warranted. Here we will discuss recent chiropractic studies to further our knowledge in conditions best treated with chiropractic.
Effectiveness of Chiropractic Manipulation Versus Sham Manipulation for Recurrent Headaches in Children Aged 7 – 14 Years – A Randomized Clinical Trial – 2021:
- The goal of this study was to explore the effectiveness of spinal manipulation compared with sham manipulation in 7 – 14 year old children with recurrent headaches over a span of 5 years in one chiropractic clinic and one pediatric clinic.
- Children included in the study had at least one headache per week for the prior 6 months and at least one musculoskeletal dysfunction. There were a total of 199 children involved in the study.
- All children received both written and oral advice to reduce headaches and then were split into active treatment and sham groups. The active treatment group received spinal manipulation, and the control group received sham manipulation for 4 months. While the sham group received roughly 8 visits during that time period, the active treatment group’s number and frequency of visits were based on the individual chiropractor’s evaluation of each patient.
- This study concluded that the active treatment group resulted in significantly fewer days with headaches and considered a valuable treatment option for children with recurring headaches.
Evaluation of the Effect of Chiropractic Manipulative Treatment on Oxidative Stress in Sacroiliac Joint – 2020:
- The goal of this study was to evaluate the effects of chiropractic treatment on the sacroiliac joint.
- There were 33 patients, 20 males and 13 females ranging from 18 – 60 years old with sacroiliac joint dysfunction. There were also 30 additional volunteers who were healthy, 20 males, 10 females ranging from 20 – 57 years old. Chiropractic manipulation was applied once a week for 4 weeks, and patients were evaluated both before treatment and one month after using various measures to determine effectiveness.
- This study concluded that chiropractic spinal manipulation was useful in the treatment of sacroiliac joint disorder.
Manual Therapy for the Pediatric Population: A Systemic Review – 2019:
- The goal of this study was to use manual therapy in the pediatric population for clinical conditions and evaluate the quality the studies that were found.
- There were 6 databases that were searched to include children under 18 years of age and treated with manual therapy between 2001 and 2018.
- 165 articles were screened, and 50 studies met the criteria to be included in the review. There were several conditions identified including attention deficit disorder (ADHD), autism, asthma, cerebral palsy, clubfoot, constipation, cranial asymmetry, cuboid syndrome, headache, colic, low back pain, and more.
- This study concluded that positive outcomes were found overall for 3 conditions: low back pain, pulled elbow, and premature babies. All other conditions were inconclusive, favorable, or unclear. More studies are needed for all conditions.
Manipulation and Mobilization for Treating Chronic Low Back Pain – A Systemic Review and Meta-Analysis – 2018:
- The goal of this study was to research the efficiency, safety, and dosing of various manipulation and mobilization therapies as well as compare it to other therapies in the treatment of chronic low back pain.
- Various electronic databases were searched from 2000 – 2017 with randomized controlled trials selected comparing manipulation or mobilization therapies with no treatment, sham, other active therapies, and multimodal therapeutic modalities.
- A total of 51 trials were included in this systemic review. Evidence obtained through this pooling of data showed that manipulation and mobilization likely reduce pain and improve function in patients with chronic low back pain with a larger effect being with manipulation rather than mobilization.
Association of Spinal Manipulative Therapy with Clinical Benefit and Harm for Acute Low Back Pain – Systemic Review and Meta – Analysis – 2017:
- The goal of this study was to evaluate the effects of spinal manipulation for acute, meaning less than or equal to 6 weeks, low back pain.
- Medline, Cochrane Database of Systemic Reviews, Current Nursing and Allied Health Literature, and EMBASE were all searched, and study quality was done using the Cochrane Back and Neck Risk of Bias tool.
- Out of the 26 included eligible random controlled trials, 15 and 12 of the randomized controlled trials provided findings that spinal manipulation therapy had significant association with improvements in pain and function, respectively.