Chiropractic Student Debt Blog

Chiropractors Are A Waste Of Time, New Study Suggests

The Daily Mail in England reported this week about a new study of chiropractic’s effect on low back pain.

According to the newspaper, “Having your back ‘cracked’ by a chiropractor or physiotherapist to ease lower back pain is a waste of time and money, say researchers. Patients get better just as quickly if they simply stay active and take a mild painkiller such as paracetamol, a study reports today.”

This is not the first study to show that chiropractic is often no more effective than placebo, and that a lot of low back pain is essentially self-limiting.

CLICK HERE TO READ THE ENTIRE STORY FROM THE “DAILY MAIL”

Maybe you should read this before you take out over $100,000 in loans to become a chiropractor:

The study, reported today in The Lancet, involved 240 patients with acute lower back pain who had been seen by their GPs.

They were assigned to four treatment groups, only one of which received both diclofenac and genuine spinal manipulative therapy. Both techniques are available on the NHS in areas where primary care trusts have agreed to fund them.

The other three groups were treated with diclofenac and “dummy” spinal manipulation; genuine spinal manipulation plus a placebo; or both a dummy drug and fake spinal manipulation.

The results showed neither diclofenac nor spinal manipulative therapy significantly increased the speed of recovery.

A total of 237 of the 240 patients recovered over the course of 12 weeks. Some 22 patients had possible adverse reactions to the treatments, including stomach disturbances, dizziness and heart palpitations.

CLICK HERE TO READ THE ENTIRE STORY FROM THE “DAILY MAIL”