A recent study in the medical journal Spine demonstrates that patients receiving high-velocity, low-amplitude (HVLA) manipulation (the type of spinal manipulation most commonly performed by chiropractors) showed a faster and more distinct reduction in disability and subjective pain, and reported a better quality of life following manipulation compared with patients that received drug therapy.
See the abstract link below:
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/23026869
Bradley Pfeiffer, DC