“Systematic reviews of controlled clinical studies of treatments used by chiropractors have found no evidence that chiropractic manipulation is effective, with the possible exception of treatment for back pain.[8] A 2011 critical evaluation of 45 systematic reviews concluded that the data included in the study “fail[ed] to demonstrate convincingly that spinal manipulation is an effective intervention for any condition.”[10] Spinal manipulation may be cost-effective for sub-acute or chronic low back pain, but the results for acute low back pain were insufficient.[11] No compelling evidence exists to indicate that maintenance chiropractic care adequately prevents symptoms or diseases.[12]”
A broken clock might be right twice a day but that doesn’t mean you should rely on it for timekeeping. If something works, we study it in search of why, how and other details that may not be immediately obvious but could have an impact on patient outcomes. From what their product quality shows, chiropractors and their snake oil salespeople colleagues appear to be some combination of less diligent, less motivated and less capable when it comes to doing that sort of evaluation. Trying to blend that part of the market into the realm of legitimate evidence-based medicine is bad for almost everybody involved. Might as well start having the nurse follow the vitals check with a palm reading if the standard of “has a basis in reality” is too onerous for modern medicine.
We’re constantly making bigger and brighter lights to shine out into the darkness of what we don’t yet know while the Supplementary, Complementary and Alternative Medicine crowd sprints for the first patch of darkness to plant a flag and hide. You’re right that there are a lot of unanswered questions but an answer is not a valid substitute for a correct answer.