Since June 2001, all chiropractors have by law to be registered with the General Chiropractic Council (GCC). It is now illegal to set up in practice as a chiropractor without such registration. The GCC guarantees to the public that practitioners have completed at least a four-year full-time course at an accredited chiropractic college. All chiropractors must continue with postgraduate training each year to maintain the highest standards of patient care.

General Chiropractic Council
44 Wicklow Street, London WC1X 9HL
(020-7713 5155) www.gcc-uk.org  

Blagrave House, 17 Blagrave Street Reading Berkshire RG1 1QB (0118-950 5950) www.chiropractic-uk.co.uk  

3 Oxford Court St James Road Brackley, Northamptonshire NN13 7XY (01280 705050) www.mctimoney-chiropractic.org  

A number of clinical trials reported in the British Medical Journal indicated that manipulation can work better at treating acute back pain than standard treatments offered in hospital on an outpatient basis.

Many chiropractors additionally claim their work can be effective with asthma. But a study for the Cochrane review, an influential database, says there is insufficient evidence to support the use of manual therapies for patients with asthma.

Another Cochrane study says that there is no evidence that spinal manipulation is effective in the treatment of problems such as period pains. Cochrane also says that chiropractic is only as effective as a placebo in treating the wrist condition carpal tunnel syndrome.

Chiropractors claim their treatments can help with digestive problems, headache and migraine, joint, posture and muscle problems, sciatica, tinnitus and vertigo. But rigorous studies have not been conducted to back these claims satisfactorily.

WHAT TO ASK BEFORE MAKING A FIRST APPOINTMENT

For further information on the practitioners mentioned in this guide, visit Dr Foster