The New York Times wrote an interesting piece about current strategies to treat spinal pain.
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/02/13/health/research/13spine.html?_r=1&oref=slogin
The central issue of accountability was examined and when utilizing conventional methods (Medical care or Physical therapy care), therapeutic effectiveness is questionable.
What strikes me, but not to my surprise, is that chiropractic was not taken into consideration. Even though chiropractic is a large "alternative" profession, it has garnered little attention by social health and public health officials, especially at the Agency for Health Care Policy Research. This group is the recognized authority by the government (and apparently newspapers) regarding health care policy. (Personally, I think the agency does a great job.)
I suspect that as the "knowledge base" of chiropractic science grows because of grants from the National Institute of Health (NIH), the stance by Agency for Health Care Policy Research will change toward chiropractic--probably, in the next few decades.
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Chiropractic, as evident by its survival despite 75 years of American Medical Association's (AMA) resistance, offers relief to spinal pain. In my five plus years of private practice, I have noticed the following benefits in my patients:
1. Decreasing, and in many cases the elimination of pain from:
Headaches, Migraines,
Neck pain, Middle Back Pain, Lower Back Pain,
Numbness, Tingling, Radiculopathies, Sciatica
2. Increasing Health as noted by:
Overall feeling of relaxation
Better spinal range of motion
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Dr. Matt