Chiropractic (Print Version)

Chiropractic is an alternative medical system. It takes a different approach from standard medicine in treating health problems.

The basic concepts of chiropractic are

Your body has a powerful self-healing ability
Your body's structure (mainly the spine) and its function are related
The goal of chiropractic therapy is to normalize this relationship

Chiropractic professionals are doctors of chiropractic, or D.C.s. They use a type of hands-on therapy called spinal manipulation or adjustment. Many people visit chiropractors for treatment of low back pain.

National Center for Complementary and Alternative Medicine

Start Here

Introduction to Chiropractic(National Center for Complementary and Alternative Medicine) - http://nccam.nih.gov/health/chiropractic/

Overviews

Chiropractic: A Safe Treatment Option(American Chiropractic Association) - http://www.acatoday.org/print.cfm?CID=2205
What Is Chiropractic?(American Chiropractic Association) - http://www.amerchiro.org/level2_css.cfm?T1ID=13&T2ID=61

Specific Conditions

Spinal Manipulation for Low-Back Pain(National Center for Complementary and Alternative Medicine) - http://nccam.nih.gov/health/pain/spinemanipulation.htm

Related Issues

Chiropractors(Bureau of Labor Statistics) - http://stats.bls.gov/oco/ocos071.htm
History of Chiropractic Care(American Chiropractic Association) - http://www.amerchiro.org/level2_css.cfm?T1ID=13&T2ID=62
Selecting a Complementary and Alternative Medicine (CAM) Practitioner(National Center for Complementary and Alternative Medicine) - http://nccam.nih.gov/health/decisions/practitioner.htm
Also available in Spanish http://nccam.nih.gov/health/espanol/seleccionarundoctor/
Travel Aches and Strains Can Be a Pain in Your Back(American Chiropractic Association) - http://www.acatoday.org/print.cfm?CID=92

Clinical Trials

ClinicalTrials.gov: Chiropractic Therapy(National Institutes of Health) - http://clinicaltrials.gov/search/open/intervention=chiropractic

Research

Low Back Pain: NACCAM Symposium(National Center for Complementary and Alternative Medicine) - http://nccam.nih.gov/news/newsletter/2007_fall/lowbackpain.htm

Journal Articles

References and abstracts from MEDLINE/PubMed (National Library of Medicine)

Article: Manipulative therapy for lower extremity conditions: expansion of literature review. - http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/sites/entrez?cmd=Retrieve&db=pubmed&dopt=AbstractPlus&list_uids=19121464&tool=MedlinePlus
Article: Chiropractic management of low back pain and low back-related leg... - http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/sites/entrez?cmd=Retrieve&db=pubmed&dopt=AbstractPlus&list_uids=19028250&tool=MedlinePlus
Article: Chiropractic management of low back disorders: report from a consensus... - http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/sites/entrez?cmd=Retrieve&db=pubmed&dopt=AbstractPlus&list_uids=19028249&tool=MedlinePlus
Chiropractic -- see more articles - http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/sites/entrez?cmd=search&db=pubmed&term=(chiropractic[mh]+OR+manipulation,chiropractic[mh])+AND+english[la]+AND+humans[mh]+NOT+(letter[pt]+OR+editorial[pt]+OR+case+reports[pt])&doptcmdl=summary&cmd_current=Limits&pmfilter_EDatLimit=last+1+Year&tool=MedlinePlus

Organizations

American Chiropractic Association - http://www.acatoday.org/
National Center for Complementary and Alternative Medicine - http://nccam.nih.gov/

You may also be interested in these MedlinePlus related pages:

Back Pain - http://www.nlm.nih.gov/medlineplus/backpain.html
Complementary and Alternative Medicine - http://www.nlm.nih.gov/medlineplus/complementaryandalternativemedicine.html
Complementary and Alternative Therapies - http://www.nlm.nih.gov/medlineplus/complementaryandalternativetherapies.html

The primary NIH organization for research on Chiropractic is the National Center for Complementary and Alternative Medicine - http://nccam.nih.gov/