16/02/2026
At Stourbridge Chiropractic we work to help you move better and decrease pain using techniques along with advice and exercises to help you to carry on doing the things you love. Below are just a few complaints that we treat daily, that have some great research and evidence behind supporting the treatment.
Here is a concise summary of conditions where research supports spinal manual therapy (including chiropractic manipulation) — focusing on higher-quality evidence such as systematic reviews and clinical guidelines.
✅ 1. Acute Low Back Pain
Multiple systematic reviews show spinal manipulation provides improvements in pain and function compared to sham or usual care.
Clinical practice guidelines from organizations such as:
American College of Physicians
National Institute for Health and Care Excellence
recommend spinal manipulation as a treatment option for acute and subacute low back pain.
Bottom line: Evidence supports it as a reasonable first-line non-drug option.
✅ 2. Chronic Low Back Pain
Systematic reviews (including Cochrane analyses) show improvements in pain and function.
Bottom line: Supported as part of a multimodal approach (exercise + education + manual therapy).
✅ 3. Neck Pain (Mechanical)
Evidence supports spinal manipulation and mobilization for acute and chronic mechanical neck pain.
Often most effective when combined with exercise.
✅ 4. Tension-Type Headaches
Some randomized controlled trials show improvement in headache frequency and intensity.
⚖️ 5. Cervicogenic Headache
Evidence supports spinal manipulation and mobilization.
Often included in physical therapy and manual therapy guidelines.
References found in the comments.
