The results of a randomized clinical trial comparing chiropractic “manipulation,” acupuncture and medication for treating chronic spinal pain (people with pain lasting more than 13 weeks) published in the July 2003 issue of Spine indicated chiropractic is superior to both medication and acupuncture in relieving this common health problem.
The study was conducted in a multidisciplinary spinal pain outpatient unit in an Australian public hospital and involved 115 patients who were randomly assigned to receive one of three interventions: medication Celebrex, Vioxx, or paracetamol), needle acupuncture or chiropractic. The chiropractic patients were checked twice a week and received “high-velocity, low-amplitude” adjustments as needed.
At the conclusion of the study, the group receiving chiropractic care experienced the most recovered patients (nine) compared with three for the acupuncture group and two for the medication group. Patient assessments (at the initial visit, week two, week five, and week nine) for the three groups also indicated superiority for chiropractic for all tests except the VAS fir neck pain. Significantly, patients in the chiropractic group reported a 47 percent improvement on the general health questionnaire, compared to 15 percent for the acupuncture group and 18 percent for the medication group.
