Lower Back Pain
The leading cause of disability for Americans
under age 45 is low back pain.
Chiropractic treatment of low back pain
Chiropractors provide safe and drug-free treatment for
acute low back pain. Many people prefer this treatment to
pain killers, muscle relaxers or surgery for relief from pain.
Chiropractic back treatment allows the body to heal naturally
by locating the source of a problem and correcting it. Spinal adjustments and manipulation are two common chiropractic treatments used for back problems. Your chiropractor may
also recommend exercises to strengthen and retrain muscles,
a program including hot or cold compresses, or diet/lifestyle
changes. If you have back problems, it’s best to seek care
right away to get faster relieve from your pain.
“Talking to Skeptical Medical Doctors: “Just the Facts, Ma’am”. “
QuantiaMD recently featured a presentation on chiropractic to its members. QuantiaMD is "the largest social learning and collaboration platform for physicians" and boasts that "1-in-3 U.S. physicians visit QuantiaMD, online and through their phones." The presentation, "Talking to Your Patients About Chiropractic Care,"1 was given by Christine Goertz, DC, PhD, vice chancellor for research & health policy at Palmer College of Chiropractic (not to mention a DC columnist).
The information Dr. Goertz provides on chiropractic is intended to help MDs better understand the value of chiropractic as it relates to patient care. It is delivered in a "Just the facts ma'am" format, with heavy references. Here are some excerpts of the more significant points Dr. Goertz makes:
§ Nine percent of U.S. adults use chiropractic and/or osteopathic spinal manipulation each year.
§ With approximately 70,000 DCs, chiropractors constitute the third largest doctoral-level health care provider group.
§ There are approximately 100 reviews of SMT (spinal manipulative therapy) for low back pain (LBP).
§ SMT (for LBP) is significantly more effective at reducing pain in the short term when compared to placebo or no treatment.
§ Twelve sessions of chiropractic SMT may yield the most favorable response in patients with chronic LBP.
§ Manual therapy with exercise was more effective than other noninvasive interventions for neck pain.
§ SMT was more effective than medication for acute and subacute neck pain for short- and long-term outcomes.
§ SMT is effective for cervicogenic and migraine headaches.
§ Several small pilot studies for nonmusculoskeletal conditions have been conducted;
§ There is no evidence of excess risk of vertebrobasilar artery (VBA) stroke associated with chiropractic care compared to primary care.
§ There are only 5-10 serious complications per 10 million manipulations.
§ A recent study of 12,036 Medical Expenditure Panel Survey (MEPS) respondents with LBP and neck pain showed that seeing a DC did not add to overall medical spending.
§ Lower overall episode costs of care are achieved when LBP treatment is initiated with a DC as compared to an MD (20-40 percent lower costs).
§ Thirty-eight percent of surveyed PCPs reported understanding the medicinal use of chiropractic, and felt comfortable counseling their patients on its use.
Work Citied:
"Talking to Skeptical MDs: "Just the Facts, Ma'am"" Talking to Skeptical MDs: "Just the Facts, Ma'am" Donald Peterson Jr., BS, HCD(hc)