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Spinal Manipulation/Mobilization: Past, Present, Future

Edited by Prof. Martin Descarreaux, Prof. Jan Hartvigsen, Prof. Greg Kawchuk, Dr. Sidney Rubinstein and Prof. Stephen M. Perle.

Spinal manipulation/mobilization (SMT) has an unclear origin, predating chiropractic’s origin with D.D. Palmer’s manipulation of Harvey Lillard’s spine in the late 1890s. Over time, SMT has evolved into a skill requiring many hours of training.

Historically, SMT has been used to treat many different health conditions; however, today it is mainly used in the treatment of musculoskeletal pain syndromes originating from the spine. Presently, there continues to be discussions, and even controversy, about how SMT should be performed, by whom, and for which health conditions it is helpful.

This thematic series in Chiropractic & Manual Therapies presents manuscripts that address all topics related to SMT including, but not limited to, how SMT works, how it should be performed, when it should be performed, how it is best taught, for which health conditions it is effective, and how patients perceive the intervention.

This timely series will strengthen the evidence base pertaining to all aspects of SMT with the aim of better informing patients, clinicians, educators, and decision-makers about SMT.

The thematic series will conclude with a free, global, online conference that will bring together the authors of the series to discuss the impact of their work with all those who would like to attend.

  1. In a previous paper, we presented some important weaknesses of and threats to the chiropractic profession as we see them. We further argued that the chiropractic profession’s relationship with its principal cl...

    Authors: Søren Francis Dyhrberg O’Neill, Casper Nim, Dave Newell and Charlotte Leboeuf-Yde
    Citation: Chiropractic & Manual Therapies 2024 32:12
    Content type: Debate Published on:

  2. Spinal manual therapy is central to chiropractic history, clinical practice, and professional identity. That chiropractors have developed an expertise in this domain has provided some considerable advantages. ...

    Authors: Søren Francis Dyhrberg O’Neill, Casper Nim, Dave Newell and Charlotte Leboeuf-Yde
    Citation: Chiropractic & Manual Therapies 2024 32:11
    Content type: Debate Published on:

  3. Spinal manipulation (SM) is a recommended and effective treatment for musculoskeletal disorders. Biomechanical (kinetic) parameters (e.g. preload/peak force, rate of force application and thrust duration) can ...

    Authors: Lindsay M Gorrell, Luana Nyirö, Mégane Pasquier, Isabelle Pagé, Nicola R Heneghan, Petra Schweinhardt and Martin Descarreaux
    Citation: Chiropractic & Manual Therapies 2023 31:36
    Content type: Research Published on:

  4. The purpose of this study was to investigate how feedback and self-assessment strategies affect performance and retention of manual skills in a group of chiropractic students.

    Authors: Mégane Pasquier, Sahel Memari, Arnaud Lardon and Martin Descarreaux
    Citation: Chiropractic & Manual Therapies 2023 31:35
    Content type: Research Published on:

  5. Spinal manipulative therapy (SMT) clinical effects are believed to be linked to its force–time profile characteristics. Previous studies have revealed that the force measured at the patient-table interface is ...

    Authors: Jérémie Mikhail, Martha Funabashi, Stéphane Sobczak, Martin Descarreaux and Isabelle Pagé
    Citation: Chiropractic & Manual Therapies 2023 31:24
    Content type: Research Published on:

  6. Spinal manipulative therapy (SMT) is commonly used to treat musculoskeletal conditions, including thoracic spine pain. Applying patient-specific force-time characteristics are believed to be important to impro...

    Authors: Grand Choi, Dominic Giuliano, Anthony Tibbles, Samuel J. Howarth, Steve Tran, Joyce Lee and Martha Funabashi
    Citation: Chiropractic & Manual Therapies 2023 31:19
    Content type: Research Published on:

  7. Spinal manipulative therapy (SMT) is a guideline-recommended treatment option for spinal pain. The recommendation is based on multiple systematic reviews. However, these reviews fail to consider that clinical ...

    Authors: Casper G. Nim, Sasha L. Aspinall, Chad E. Cook, Leticia A. Corrêa, Megan Donaldson, Aron S. Downie, Steen Harsted, Jan Hartvigsen, Hazel J. Jenkins, David McNaughton, Luana Nyirö, Stephen M. Perle, Eric J. Roseen, James J. Young, Anika Young, Gong-He Zhao…
    Citation: Chiropractic & Manual Therapies 2023 31:14
    Content type: Study protocol Published on:

  8. This review aimed to identify variables influencing clinicians’ application of spinal manipulative therapy (SMT) for persistent spine pain after lumbar surgery (PSPS-2). We hypothesized markers of reduced clin...

    Authors: Robert J. Trager, Clinton J. Daniels, Kevin W. Meyer, Amber C. Stout and Jeffery A. Dusek
    Citation: Chiropractic & Manual Therapies 2023 31:10
    Content type: Systematic review Published on:

  9. Spinal manipulative therapy (SMT) is offered by many health professions, most often by chiropractors. While SMT can be effective for some musculoskeletal disorders, there is no evidence that SMT improves human...

    Authors: Gregory Neil Kawchuk, Steen Harsted, Jan Hartvigsen, Luana Nyirö and Casper Glissmann Nim
    Citation: Chiropractic & Manual Therapies 2023 31:4
    Content type: Research Published on:

  10. Spinal manipulation has been shown to affect muscle activity, posture, and pain. To date, no studies have examined the effect of manipulation on biomechanical factors during sitting. Therefore, the purpose of ...

    Authors: D. E. De Carvalho and J. P. Callaghan
    Citation: Chiropractic & Manual Therapies 2022 30:62
    Content type: Research Published on:

  11. Systematic reviews (SRs) of randomized controlled trials (RCTs) are considered one of the most reliable study types. Through a systematic and thorough literature search, researchers aim to collect all research...

    Authors: Martin Nørregård Eybye, Simon Dyrløv Madsen, Anders Nikolai Ørsted Schultz and Casper Glissmann Nim
    Citation: Chiropractic & Manual Therapies 2022 30:57
    Content type: Research Published on:

  12. For manipulation, this paper addresses arguably the most fundamental question that can be asked about any therapeutic intervention: what is it? In answering this question, this paper presents the prevailing model...

    Authors: David W. Evans
    Citation: Chiropractic & Manual Therapies 2022 30:51
    Content type: Review Published on:

    The Correction to this article has been published in Chiropractic & Manual Therapies 2023 31:2

  13. An audible pop is the sound that can derive from an adjustment in spinal manipulative therapy and is often seen as an indicator of a successful treatment. A review conducted in 1998 concluded that there was li...

    Authors: Annelieke Cesanne Moorman and David Newell
    Citation: Chiropractic & Manual Therapies 2022 30:42
    Content type: Systematic review Published on:

  14. High-velocity low-amplitude thrust spinal manipulation (SM) is a recommended and commonly used manual therapy intervention in physiotherapy. Beliefs surrounding the safety and effectiveness of SM have challeng...

    Authors: Firas Mourad, Marzia Stella Yousif, Filippo Maselli, Leonardo Pellicciari, Roberto Meroni, James Dunning, Emilio Puentedura, Alan Taylor, Roger Kerry, Nathan Hutting and Hendrikus Antonius Kranenburg
    Citation: Chiropractic & Manual Therapies 2022 30:38
    Content type: Research Published on:

  15. The intervertebral disc is a known back pain generator and is frequently the focus of spinal manipulative therapy evaluation and treatment. The majority of our current knowledge regarding intradiscal pressure ...

    Authors: William R. Reed, Michael A. K. Liebschner, Carla R. Lima, Harshvardhan Singh, Christopher P. Hurt, Daniel F. Martins, James M. Cox and Maruti R. Gudavalli
    Citation: Chiropractic & Manual Therapies 2022 30:36
    Content type: Research Published on:

  16. Despite controversy regarding its validity and clinical usefulness, manual examination findings still have an important role for manipulative therapies. As an example, somatic dysfunction (SD) remains central ...

    Authors: Lorenzo Arcuri, Giacomo Consorti, Marco Tramontano, Marco Petracca, Jorge Eduardo Esteves and Christian Lunghi
    Citation: Chiropractic & Manual Therapies 2022 30:32
    Content type: Research Published on:

  17. Cervical spine manipulation (CSM) is a frequently used treatment for neck pain. Despite its demonstrated efficacy, concerns regarding the potential of stretch damage to vertebral arteries (VA) during CSM remai...

    Authors: Lindsay M. Gorrell, Gregor Kuntze, Janet L. Ronsky, Ryan Carter, Bruce Symons, John J. Triano and Walter Herzog
    Citation: Chiropractic & Manual Therapies 2022 30:28
    Content type: Research Published on:

  18. Low back and neck pain are the most common musculoskeletal disorders worldwide, and imply suffering and substantial societal costs, hence effective interventions are crucial. The aim of this study was to evalu...

    Authors: Emmanuel Aboagye, Stina Lilje, Camilla Bengtsson, Anna Peterson, Ulf Persson and Eva Skillgate
    Citation: Chiropractic & Manual Therapies 2022 30:27
    Content type: Research Published on:

  19. Changes in pain sensitivity are a commonly suggested mechanism for the clinical effect of spinal manipulative therapy (SMT). Most research has examined pressure pain thresholds (PPT) and has primarily been con...

    Authors: Casper G. Nim, Sasha L. Aspinall, Rasmus Weibel, Martin G. Steenfelt and Søren O’Neill
    Citation: Chiropractic & Manual Therapies 2022 30:25
    Content type: Research Published on: