Chiropractors: Are They Legit?

Science Vs

Spotify Studios

Education, Science, Health & Fitness

4.4 • 11.7K Ratings

🗓️ 4 December 2025

⏱️ 37 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

Tons of people visit the chiropractor, saying it helps soothe pain in their neck or back. But we’re now hearing claims that chiro can do a whole lot more. Like, some say it can help kids with stuff like asthma, colic, even breastfeeding problems. So … can chiro really do all that?? To find out what’s cracking here, we talk to chiropractor Carl Cleveland III, physical therapist Anita Gross, neurophysiologist Dr. Marcello Costa — and the parents of former Senior Producer Kaitlyn Sawrey. We originally published a version of this episode several years ago; we’ve updated it with new science. Check out our full transcript here: https://bit.ly/sciencevschiropractors 00:00 Welcome to Science Vs chiropractors 01:09 Baby Kaity and the Sawreys 04:54 The origin of chiropractic 07:35 The theory behind subluxation 10:19 Neck and back pain 13:18 The science on taking kids to the chiro 19:07 The evidence on subluxation 24:42 What are the risks? 27:14 Let’s round it all up This episode was produced by Rose Rimler and Wendy Zukerman, with help from Kaitlyn Sawrey, Ekedi Fausther-Keeys, Shruti Ravindran and Heather Rogers. We’re edited by Blythe Terrell. Fact checking by Michelle Harris. Sound design by Martin Peralta and Bobby Lord. Music written by Bobby Lord. Recording help from Asher Griffith. Special thanks to Dr. Richard Deyo, Prof. Tim Mirtz, Prof. Gregory Whitcomb, Dr. Adam Cifu and Julie Knaak. An extra big thanks to Rachel Ward, Emma Morgenstern, Christina Sullivan, Jasmine Romero, Phoebe Flanigan, Alex Ward, Russell Gragg, Fiona Croall and Judy Adair. Also, a shout-out to the Sawreys! Thank you, Bill & Chris. Science Vs is a Spotify Studios Original. Listen for free on Spotify or wherever you get your podcasts. Follow us and tap the bell for episode notifications. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Transcript

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0:00.0	Hi, I'm Wendy Zuckerman and you're listening to Science Verses. This is the show that pits facts against...
0:07.0	Oh!
0:08.5	Ah, the satisfying sound of a back being cracked. Because today on the show, chiropractors, are they legit?
0:23.6	Millions of people have back and neck pain, and it can be pretty hard to treat.
0:29.7	There are drugs that can help, but they can also have some pretty nasty side effects.
0:35.1	And so people are desperately looking for other solutions, like going to the
0:40.3	Cairo. Around one in ten adult Americans went to the Cairo in 2022, mostly for pain. That's
0:47.6	according to the National Institutes of Health. And of course, it's not just Americans going to
0:52.9	the chiropractor.
0:57.4	Several years ago, producer Caitlin Sori called up her parents,
1:00.2	who are big fads of going to the Cairo.
1:02.3	Katie, how is New York going?
1:03.0	It's good.
1:04.8	So you're still riding your bike to work?
1:05.8	Yeah, I do.
1:07.4	Don't worry, I'm safe.
1:08.7	Your mother is worried.
1:11.6	Katie's mum is Chris and her dad is Bill.
1:17.0	And the whole sorry family had been going to the Cairo for years.
1:20.6	So Katie, tell us all about it.
1:23.6	Yeah, so my parents have been going to the Cairo for ages.
1:27.4	And I actually didn't know about this until we called them up to talk to them about it.
	...

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