I've seen chiropractic care work on back and neck problems when the medical profession had decided surgery was the only way to go.
From personal experience (as a chiropractic patient for 40 years), I have had chiropractors tell me that a certain problem I had (concerning back pain) needed to be seen to by a medical practitioner. And they were correct.
Also, personally speaking (as in not my opinion, but my experience), chiropractic can genuinely relieve (as in not a "placebo effect") acid reflux, difficulty with elimination, bursitis, migraine headaches and other conditions. It does not work on everyone, since some of these symptoms have different origins or causes.

Just like in the medica...

I've seen chiropractic care work on back and neck problems when the medical profession had decided surgery was the only way to go.
From personal experience (as a chiropractic patient for 40 years), I have had chiropractors tell me that a certain problem I had (concerning back pain) needed to be seen to by a medical practitioner. And they were correct.
Also, personally speaking (as in not my opinion, but my experience), chiropractic can genuinely relieve (as in not a "placebo effect") acid reflux, difficulty with elimination, bursitis, migraine headaches and other conditions. It does not work on everyone, since some of these symptoms have different origins or causes.

Just like in the medical profession, there are effective, honest chiropractors and then there are quacks. One can avoid experiencing the quacks by using recommendations from trusted friends and associates.
The AMA and Big Pharma doesn't much care for chiropractic because a good chiropractor often gets results more effectively and with less expense than drugs or surgery (the only tools at an allopathic medical doctor (as in standard western medicine) can provide. The above organizations also pay to have "articles" published in periodicals to dis-inform the American public about chiropractic care. Fortunately, the tactic doesn't work too well.
One more point: several European countries (i.e. Germany) are very advanced in homeopathy, since they decided to promote both homeopathy (which got its start in herbalism) and allopathy (which originated in bleeding to balance "humors"). Chiropractic came from eastern medical tradition combined with homeopathy. Its been good, for me anyway, to have the option to choose what kind of practitioner would best be able to help, especially since I have difficulty with drug side-effects and reluctance to being cut up.

@mcsmithblack
Well, it seems that we're bound to disagree on the subject of alternative medicine. My clip seems to have struck a nerve.

Let me point out that certain alternative practices have been shown to be totally without rational basis. The most egregious that you mention is homeopathy. For those not aware of this "treatment", here is a snippet from Wikipedia on the subject:

"Modern homeopaths have proposed that water has a memory
that allows homeopathic preparations to work without any of the
original substance; however, the physics of water are well understood,
and no known mechanism permits such a memory.[17][18] The lack of convincing scientific evidence supporting homeopathy's e...

@mcsmithblack
Well, it seems that we're bound to disagree on the subject of alternative medicine. My clip seems to have struck a nerve.

Let me point out that certain alternative practices have been shown to be totally without rational basis. The most egregious that you mention is homeopathy. For those not aware of this "treatment", here is a snippet from Wikipedia on the subject:

"Modern homeopaths have proposed that water has a memory
that allows homeopathic preparations to work without any of the
original substance; however, the physics of water are well understood,
and no known mechanism permits such a memory.[17][18] The lack of convincing scientific evidence supporting homeopathy's efficacy[19] and its use of remedies lacking active ingredients have caused homeopathy to be described as "pseudoscience"[20] and (more plainly) as "quackery" by Oliver Wendell Holmes, Sr. in 1842[21] and other more recent writers.[22][23][24]"

While I'm glad that you have found symtomatic relief for your problems I'd not be so quick to discount the placebo effect. And physical maladies have been known to reverse themselves without any outside intervention.

While not advocating Homeopathy per se, before dismissing it altogether I'd recommend the book 13 Things That Don't Make Sense: The Most Baffling Scientific Mysteries of Our Time. It's a fascinating read altogether about just how little we understand about how the Universe works.

Homeopathy gets an entire chapter (along with chapters on "are the laws of physics the same all over the universe, or just local" and the like.) Not a conclusive defense, but it does explore how little we actually know about some scientific facts we take for granted.

People toss around the word "Placebo" like it's somethin...

While not advocating Homeopathy per se, before dismissing it altogether I'd recommend the book 13 Things That Don't Make Sense: The Most Baffling Scientific Mysteries of Our Time. It's a fascinating read altogether about just how little we understand about how the Universe works.

Homeopathy gets an entire chapter (along with chapters on "are the laws of physics the same all over the universe, or just local" and the like.) Not a conclusive defense, but it does explore how little we actually know about some scientific facts we take for granted.

People toss around the word "Placebo" like it's something getting in the way of understanding "true healing", instead of it being the body's own natural healing process.

Just because we don't understand something today doesn't mean it doesn't work, or that our understanding of the Universe won't expand. Science has got a whole lot worked out. Just not nearly all of it.

That said, I'm still gonna get Lexi to walk on my back for free.

I can say from personal experience that I think chiropractors do more harm than good.

I started going when I was about 14 years old due to migraines and back pain. My x-rays showed that I had a mild case of scoliosis. The chiropractor I went to was wonderful! He never intentionally cracked anything though it did happen at times. I went to him twice a week for about 1.5 years and then continued with other chiropractors as I moved around the country. The first chiropractor did alleviate my headaches and even my scoliosis however the other chiropractors brought it all back 10 fold. I now suffer from daily migraines and 24/7/365 neck pain. Not a minute goes by where my neck isn't in unbe...

I can say from personal experience that I think chiropractors do more harm than good.

I started going when I was about 14 years old due to migraines and back pain. My x-rays showed that I had a mild case of scoliosis. The chiropractor I went to was wonderful! He never intentionally cracked anything though it did happen at times. I went to him twice a week for about 1.5 years and then continued with other chiropractors as I moved around the country. The first chiropractor did alleviate my headaches and even my scoliosis however the other chiropractors brought it all back 10 fold. I now suffer from daily migraines and 24/7/365 neck pain. Not a minute goes by where my neck isn't in unbelievable pain that I say is 100% due to the "cracking" chiropractors. I even wake up several times a night with unbearable pain. If I don't sleep perfectly straight on my back all night, I am guaranteed to wake up with a horrible migraine.

My point is, if you can find a good chiropractor then you may be OK but most chiropractors out there, and I've been to a lot, will make things much worse over time. The easiest way to tell is if you walk in and he does nothing but crack your back/neck then you have a bad one. Most of these ones will have a waiting room full of people and will get you in and out as fast as possible. The trick is that cracking your back/neck does feel good so you think it worked but then the next day you want it done again and again. The ones that will actually do you good will not intentionally crack anything and will actually spend time with you to find out what's really going on instead of just cracking everything.

Also, do your children a favor and don't ever ever ever take them to a chiro. The chiro's will try to convince you that you should because of all the benefits but the fact is that your child is still growing and developing and messing with the spine now will only cause major problems down the road.

People toss around the word "Placebo" like it's something getting in
the way of understanding "true healing", instead of it being the body's
own natural healing process.

I'm sure some hold this view but by the same token, not all who make reference to the placebo effect are ignorant of its meaning or implications.

Just because we don't understand something today doesn't mean it doesn't work

True, but it may not "work" in the manner that it's proponents claim. Without legitimate scientific collaboration I'd take the claims of these practitioners of alternative "medicine" with more than a grain of salt.

Science has got a whole lot worked out. Just not nea...

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People toss around the word "Placebo" like it's something getting in
the way of understanding "true healing", instead of it being the body's
own natural healing process.

I'm sure some hold this view but by the same token, not all who make reference to the placebo effect are ignorant of its meaning or implications.

Just because we don't understand something today doesn't mean it doesn't work

True, but it may not "work" in the manner that it's proponents claim. Without legitimate scientific collaboration I'd take the claims of these practitioners of alternative "medicine" with more than a grain of salt.

Science has got a whole lot worked out. Just not nearly all of it.

Which is absolutely true. In fact, I'll make the not big leap and say that science will never get it "all" worked out. I hope not! But the scientific method, with its system of verifiability and double blind experimentation has been the corner stone of our figuring out what we have about the world. I'm not quite ready to give that up for treatments that rely on anecdotes and unverified claims.

let me say this about that. When I was 18 I landed wrong on a diving board and totally screwed my back up. For weeks I was flat on my back and could hardly move. My parents took to to a back specialist and they decided on surgery. My older sister said no and took me to a non force chiropractor (no cracking, no bending, none of that stuff) just a light snapping of her fingers in the areas that were in pain. She told me "on the way home your back is going to hurt twice as bad as it did before, but by the time you get home you should be okay" She was right. I was in tears on the way home but when I got out of the car I could bend over and touch my toes without any pain. I still have problems i...

let me say this about that. When I was 18 I landed wrong on a diving board and totally screwed my back up. For weeks I was flat on my back and could hardly move. My parents took to to a back specialist and they decided on surgery. My older sister said no and took me to a non force chiropractor (no cracking, no bending, none of that stuff) just a light snapping of her fingers in the areas that were in pain. She told me "on the way home your back is going to hurt twice as bad as it did before, but by the time you get home you should be okay" She was right. I was in tears on the way home but when I got out of the car I could bend over and touch my toes without any pain. I still have problems in that area from time to time but nothing I can't deal with. Here's the kicker....... she was a witch. As she tended to me she chanted some strange garb I couldn't understand. When I die I might owe my soul to dark power? But for now it's working for me. SO I say Both Snake Oil and legitimate.

"okaa bakaa okaa bakaaa oka bakka nakka nakka bakka ohhhhhhh!"