If you’re suffering from chronic lower back pain, a new review of existing research finds that spinal manipulation − the kind of hands-on regimen that a chiropractor might perform on you − is as helpful as other common treatments like painkillers.

The findings, published in the latest issue of The Cochrane Library, showed that spinal manipulation worked about as well as the other treatments on back pain. It particularly appeared to work well for certain kinds of patients, including those with restricted movement in the back, those without psychological issues, and those without symptoms below the knee related to the sciatic nerve.

Spinal manipulation is also safe, researchers found. Ultimately, “the decision to refer for manipulation should be based upon costs, preferences of the patient and providers, and relative safety of all treatment options,” said the study review's lead author Sidney Rubinstein, a chiropractor in private practice and a postdoctoral researcher at the VU University Medical Center in Amsterdam.

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Chiropractic care can lower blood pressure as effectively as a popular two-drug therapy combination, according to research.

The eight-week pilot study, published in the May 2007 issue of Journal of Hypertension, worked with 50 patients with Stage 1 hypertension, or early-stage high blood pressure.

The study results showed that the 25 patients that received chiropractic adjustments significantly lowered their blood pressure compared to the 25 patients in the control group that received fake adjustments.

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Chiropractic care can effectively treat a variety of severe headaches including tension headaches, cervicogenic headaches, and migraines, according to a recent article by Dr. Steven Read.

The article states, “For almost all the kinds of headaches, chiropractic care is considered to the best treatment available, especially when the drugs associated with other forms of treatment increase the risks of strokes etc.”

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A recent study found that chiropractic care can improve sinus function and return the sense of smell.
 
The study, published in the summer 2009 Journal of Pediatric, Maternal & Family Health, conducted a case study of an 11-year-old girl who had suffered from persistent chronic sinusitis that had resulted in the loss of smell for a year.

Sinusitis causes build-up of mucus in the nasal cavity that restricts the function of the olfactory cells that give people their sense of smell.

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