In comparison to other treatment alternatives

• "Reduced odds of surgery were observed for...those whose first provider was a chiropractor. 42.7% of workers [with back injuries] who first saw a surgeon had surgery, in contrast to only 1.5% of those who saw a chiropractor." Keeney et al. (2012), Spine
• "Acute and chronic chiropractic patients experienced better outcomes in pain, functional disability, and patient satisfaction; clinically important differences in pain and disability improvement were found for chronic patients." Haas et al. (2005), Journal of Manipulative and Physiological Therapeutics

For Headaches

• "Cervical spine manipulation was associated with significant improvement in headache outcomes in trials involving patients with neck pain and/or neck dysfunction and headache." Duke Evidence Report, McCrory, Penzlen, Hasselblad, Gray (2001)
• "The results of this study show that spinal manipulative therapy is an effective treatment for tension headaches...Four weeks after cessation of treatment...the patients who received spinal manipulative therapy experienced sustained therapeutic benefit in all major outcomes in contrast to the patients that received amitriptyline therapy, who reverted to baseline values." Journal of Manipulative and Physiological Therapeutics, Boline et al. (1995)

For Neck Pain

• "In a study funded by NIH's National Center for Complementary and Alternative Medicine to test the effectiveness of different approaches for treating mechanical neck pain, 272 participants were divided into three groups that received either spinal manipulative therapy (SMT) from a doctor of chiropractic (D.C.), pain medication (over-the-counter pain relievers, narcotics and muscle relaxants) or exercise recommendations. After 12 weeks, about 57% of those who met with D.C.'s and 48% who exercised reported at least a 75% reduction in pain reduction among those who took medication." Annals of Internal Medicine, Bronfort et al. (2012)

Cost Effectiveness

• "Chiropractic care appeared relatively cost-effective for the treatment of chronic low-back pain. Chiropractic and medical care performed comparably for acute patients. Practice-based clinical outcomes were consistent with systematic reviews of spinal manipulative efficacy: manipulation-based therapy is at least as good as and, in some cases, better than other therapeutics." Haas et al. (2005), Journal of Manipulative and Physiological Therapeutics