Many if not most chiropractors claim that we all need regular 'adjustments', ie spinal manipulation for staying healthy.
Given that maintenance therapy, as it is called, is so central for chiropractic, one would expect plenty of studies to show that it is worth the considerable expense.
A recent systematic review - by chiropractors - found only one trial addressing this question. In this pilot study, 29 back pain sufferers were randomised either to receiving nine months of maintenance therapy or to having no such treatment. The results failed to show significant differences in pain at follow-up, but suggested a marginally positive effect in terms of disability. In other words, hardly any research on the effectiveness of chiropractic maintenance treatment is currently available and the few data that do exist fail to show that maintenance care is worth it.
References:
Leboeuf-Yde C, Hestbaek L. Maintenance care in chiropractic - what do we know? Chiropractic & Osteopathy 2008; 16(3):1-7.
Descarraeux M, Blouin J-S, Drolet M, Papadimitriou S, Teasdale N. Efficacy of preventive spinal manipulation for chronic low-back pain and related disabilities: a preliminary study. J Manipulative Physiol Ther 2004; 27:509-514.
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