April 10, 2009 — A study in the May issue of Consumer Reports shows that hands-on therapies were tops among treatments for relief of back pain. The study, which surveyed more than 14,000 consumers, was conducted by the Consumer Reports Health Ratings Center.

According to the report, the survey respondents tried a variety of different treatments and rated the treatments on how helpful and satisfied they were with the results. The report concluded that hands-on therapies were the top-rated.

The report states that, “eighty-eight percent of those who tried chiropractic manipulation said it helped a lot, and 59 percent were ‘completely’ or ‘very’ satisfied with their chiropractor.”

Source: Consumer Reports, www.consumerreports.org

The Results at a glance:

Professional Highly satisfied
Chiropractor 59%
Physical therapist 55%
Acupuncturist 53%
Physician, specialist 44%
Physician, primary-care doctor 34%

Read the full report. There are many more articles like this at the Patient Satisfaction Page