Chiropractic vs. Acupuncture vs. Medication

Chiropractors are experts with spinal problems. This is supported by much research, including a new study published in the January issue of the Journal of Manipulative and Physiological Therapeutics. In this study, researchers compared the long-term benefits of medication, needle acupuncture, and spinal manipulation (the most popular form of treatment delivered by chiropractors) for the treatment of chronic (>13 weeks) spinal pain syndromes. The comparisons of initial and subsequent follow-up questionnaires revealed spinal manipulation to be far superior. Out of 7 main outcome measures to determine overall treatment success, spinal manipulation showed significant improvement in 5 outcome measures, while the acupuncture and medication groups showed improvement in only 1 of the 7 outcome measures. Researchers stated, “In patients with chronic spinal pain syndromes, spinal manipulation, if not contraindicated, may be the only treatment modality of the assessed regimens that provides broad and significant long-term benefit.”