Until very recently, most research into the effectiveness of Chiropractic care was directed toward low back pain.  Now the federal government and many others outside of the Chiropractic profession acknowledge the success chiropractors have with low back pain. More recently there has been new published research that has shown Chiropractic care to be extremely effective in treating migraines, tension headaches, and cervicogenic headaches.

In most scientific literature, chiropractic care is referred to as SMT (spinal manipulative therapy), CMT (chiropractic manipulative therapy), or manual therapy. One study on migraines published by the Australian and New Zealand Journal of Medicine in 1989 stated that with one week of chiropractic treatment (SMT) 75% of subjects in the study reported complete relief of headache, also noting a significant increase in cervical range of motion and a reduction of dizziness.

A migraine study in 2000 in the Journal of Manipulative and Physiological Therapeutics reported that 72% of the study participants had a favorable outcome with chiropractic care, with 22% of the participants reporting more than 90% reduction of their migraines, and 50% reporting significant improvement in the intensity of the migraines.

A 1998 study in the same periodical stated that "spinal manipulation was as effective as a well established and efficacious treatment (amitriptyline, known by the brand name Elavil), and on the basis of a benign side effects profile, it should be considered a treatment option for patients with frequent migraine headaches."

Similar success has been reported in several studies with tension headaches as well. In a study that compared the effectiveness of chiropractic care versus amitriptyline in treatment of tension headaches, the Journal of Manipulative and Physiological Therapeutics in 1995 reported that spinal manipulation is an effective treatment for tension headaches, and that the patients who got spinal manipulation experienced a sustained therapeutic benefit in all major outcomes in contrast to the patients that received amitriptyline, who reverted to baseline values. (The headaches came back when the medication stopped.) Spine, the most prestigious orthopedic journal in the world, reported in 1996 that almost without exception, chiropractic manipulation of the neck was found to be superior in terms of reducing tension headache frequency, intensity, and improving functional status of patients when compared to other standard medical treatments.