Top 10 Chiropractic Research Studies from 2025 (So Far)
Staying current with chiropractic research shouldn’t feel like a full-time job. That’s why our ChiroUp research team combs through the latest studies to deliver the most relevant, practice-changing insights…fast.
This week’s blog recaps our top ten chiropractic findings from the first half of 2025, plus the clinical assets you need to put the research into action:
3 beneficial new treatments
2 powerful chiropractic toolkits
2 infographics- to share with patients and social media followers
And, one of our most popular clinical webinars
Browse the highlights, grab the tools to improve outcomes, and reinforce why chiropractic is the top choice for spine and body care.
1. Top Cervicogenic Headache Care: SMT & SNAGs
"In patients with cervicogenic headache, sustained natural apophyseal glides (SNAG) mobilization can significantly improve pain and function, with benefits maintained in the long-term. Additionally, cervical spine manipulation may be the most effective short-term intervention for reducing pain and disability compared to mobilization, massage, and exercise, although clinician expertise appears to be an important factor."
Xu X, Ling Y. Comparative safety and efficacy of manual therapy interventions for cervicogenic headache: a systematic review and network meta-analysis. Frontiers in Neurology. 2025 May 16;16:1566764. Link
A separate study also showed: "[Headache patients] receiving chiropractic SMT had a significantly lower likelihood of butalbital prescription and, tentatively, medication overuse headache compared to matched controls not receiving SMT. These findings support current guideline recommendations favoring SMT in tension-type headache care."
Trager RJ, Williamson TJ, Makineni PS, Morris LH. Association Between Spinal Manipulation, Butalbital Prescription, and Medication Overuse Headache in Adults With Tension?Type Headache: Retrospective Cohort Study. Health Science Reports. 2024 Dec;7(12):e70218. Link
Deeper Dive: Check out this clinical webinar on managing headaches. ChiroUp subscribers can also review the headache SNAG technique below or in their clinical skills library.
2. Growing Evidence: Chiropractic Care Reduces Opioid Use
Two new studies add to a growing body of evidence showing that chiropractic care reduces opioid prescription rates, use, and related adverse events.
"The hazard ratio for opioid prescription… [showed] a significantly lower risk for receipt of an opioid prescription among chiropractic care users in the 365-day follow-up“
Lisi AJ, Bastian LA, Brandt CA, Coleman BC, Fenton B, King JT, Goulet JL. The Impact of Chiropractic Care on Opioid Prescriptions in Veterans Health Administration Patients Receiving Low Back Pain Care. Journal of General Internal Medicine. 2025 May 20:1-9. Link
"Patients receiving chiropractic spinal manipulation for spinal pain are less likely to be prescribed opioids … [and] had a lower risk of an opioid-related adverse drug events”
Trager RJ, Cupler ZA, Srinivasan R, Harper EG, Perez JA. Association between chiropractic spinal manipulation for sciatica and opioid-related adverse events: A retrospective cohort study. PloS one. 2025 Jan 28;20(1):e0317663. Link
Deeper Dive: Check out the "A Natural Solution To The Opioid Crisis" infographic, then share it with your patients and social media followers.
3. SMT Safe & Effective For Neck Pain
"The evidence supports the use of SMT as an effective and safe intervention for reducing pain, improving cervical range of motion, and decreasing disability in patients with acute neck pain."
Diao Y, Liu Y, Pan J, Chen J, Pan J, Liao M, Liu H, Liao L. Efficacy and safety of spinal manipulative therapy in the management of acute neck pain: a systematic review and meta-analysis. Systematic Reviews. 2025 Dec;14(1):1-4. Link
"Cervical manipulation enhances the effectiveness of exercise, which promotes rapid recovery from neck pain and stiffness and further facilitates the correction of cervical sagittal alignment in patients with mechanical neck pain."
Wu K, Deng R, Zhao X, Wang Z, Ru Q, Chen X, Zhang B, Chen L, Kang R. Cervical manipulation accelerates recovery and further correction of cervical alignment in mechanical neck pain (MNP) patients with neck exercise: A randomized controlled trial. Complementary Therapies in Clinical Practice. 2025 Mar 16:101969. Link
Deeper Dive: Check out our Chiropractic Safety Toolkit to enhance your clinical knowledge and spread awareness of the safety and effectiveness of evidence-based chiropractic care.
4. Exercise Prescription Enhanced By Manual Therapy
"Manual therapy as an adjunct to exercise provides increased improvements in short-term pain, function and disability outcomes than exercise alone in the management of low back pain.”
Narenthiran P, Smith IG, Williams FM. Does the addition of manual therapy to exercise therapy improve pain and disability outcomes in chronic low back pain: A systematic review. Journal of Bodywork and Movement Therapies. 2024 Dec 10. Link
Deeper Dive: See how ChiroUp subscribers prescribe evidence-based, condition-specific exercises in four clicks.
5. Elastic Therapeutic Taping Effective For CTS
"Kinesiology taping may effectively improve long-term pain relief and functional outcomes in patients with [carpal tunnel syndrome]."
Li Z, Liu X, He S, Wu J, Zhu Z, Lu W. Kinesio taping can relieve symptoms and enhance functions in patients with mild-to-moderate carpal tunnel syndrome: A systematic review and meta-analysis. Physiotherapy Theory and Practice. 2025 Feb 15:1-6. Link
Deeper Dive: ChiroUp subscribers can watch Dr. Todd Riddle from FAKTR demonstrate how to apply elastic therapeutic taping for carpal tunnel syndrome.
6. SMT Improves Idiopathic Scoliosis Curves & Mobility
"Patients with idiopathic scoliosis showed improvements in the Cobb angle, as well as changes in lower limb kinematics and kinetics during functional activities, such as walking and stair navigation, following six weeks of spinal manipulation intervention."
Gou Y, Meng L, Chen S, Jiang Z, Lei H. Analysis of kinematic and kinetic changes in scoliosis following spinal manipulation. Scientific Reports. 2025 Jan 31;15(1):3881. Link
A separate study found that adding spinal manipulation was more effective than traditional care alone (the Schroth method) in reducing structural deformities and improving lumbar range of motion.
Chen H, Zhang C. The effect of Schroth Therapy combined with spinal manipulation for the treatment of adolescent idiopathic scoliosis. Pakistan Journal of Medical Sciences. 2025 Feb;41(2):409. Link
Deeper Dive: ChiroUp subscribers can review the entire best practice protocol for scoliosis in their clinical skills library.
7. Manipulation Reduces Downstream Medical Costs
"Initial spinal manipulative therapy was associated with a significant reduction in downstream care escalation encounters among Medicare beneficiaries with new episodes of neck pain. Our study contributes to a growing body of evidence supporting the integration of non-pharmacological care strategies for neck pain management."
Anderson BR, MacKenzie TA, Lurie JD, Grout L, Whedon JM. Patterns of initial treatment and subsequent care escalation among medicare beneficiaries with neck pain: a retrospective cohort study. European Spine Journal. 2024 Dec 26:1-7. Link
Deeper Dive: Share the news with this ChiroUp infographic on the cost-effectiveness of chiropractic care.
8. Sciatic Nerve Flossing Superior For Sciatic LBP
"The sciatic nerve slider technique, whether applied in the slump or supine position, demonstrated superior outcomes compared to conventional therapy alone in managing LBP with sciatica."
Shaheen HM, Belgen Kaygisiz B. Comparison of different treatment positions of nerve slider technique for patients with low back pain: a randomized control trial. Eur J Phys Rehabil Med. 2025 Jan 28. doi: 10.23736/S1973-9087.24.08541-1. Epub ahead of print. PMID: 39873676. Link
Deeper Dive: Check out this sciatic nerve flossing tutorial video, or read our prior sciatic nerve flossing blog for the full rundown.
9. Cervical Manipulation Reduces Systolic Blood Pressure
"The findings suggest that cervical manipulation may induce a hypotensive response in systolic blood pressure while promoting an overall enhancement in cardiovascular regulation, particularly through an increase in parasympathetic activity. Specifically, 80 % of the reviewed studies reported a reduction in systolic blood pressure following cervical manipulation, highlighting its potential as a therapeutic strategy for blood pressure management. Additionally, 66 % of the included studies demonstrated improvements in sympathetic-vagal balance regulation."
Monteiro ER, Cunha JC, de Souza Horsth T, de Araujo Barros I, de Souza RC, de Andrade WC, Neto VG, de Sá Ferreira A, de Jesus IR. Effect of cervical manipulation on blood pressure and heart rate variability responses in adults: A scoping review. Journal of Bodywork and Movement Therapies. 2025 Mar 17. Link
10. High Patient Satisfaction With Chiropractic
"Patient satisfaction was consistently high in comparison to other professions. The review identified key factors that contribute to patient experience, which were not limited to clinical outcomes, but also the clinical interaction and clinician attributes."
Newell D, Holmes MM. Patient Experience and Satisfaction With Chiropractic Care: A Systematic Review. Journal of Patient Experience. 2024 Dec;11:23743735241302992. Link
Deeper Dive: Review the ChiroUp Clinical Outcomes and Patient Satisfaction Synopsis for many more interesting stats supporting the effectiveness, affordability, and safety of chiropractic care.
Want to stay clinically sharp without spending hours digging through journals? That’s exactly what ChiroUp is built for.
Our team reviews the latest research every week and updates best-practice protocols for over 200 conditions, so you can be confident you’re always delivering care at the highest standard.
No guesswork. No outdated care plans. Just evidence-based tools that keep you ahead of the curve and improve outcomes.
