Chiropractic
& Low Back Pain
"...manipulation
is one of [the] best-documented approaches to the treatment
of low back pain..."
Compared
to medical care, chiropractic has been found "to
be distinctly advantageous in the treatment of musculoskeletal
disorders."
-Anthony
Rosner, Ph.D. (May 1999)
40%
of Americans who seek treatment for low back pain go to a
chiropractor.
-American
Journal of Public Health (May 1998)
"...there
is stronger evidence for manipulation than for most [medical]
procedures."
-Gorden
Waddell, M.D. (January 23, 1999)
For
the treatment of chronic low back pain, patients are nearly
2x as satisfied with chiropractic care as they are with medical
care.
In
addition to greater satisfaction, "the improvement
for chiropractic patients was 5 times greater" than
for medical patients.
-Journal
of Manipulative and Physiological Therapeutics (May
2000)
"...spinal
manipulative therapy is the most effective and cost-effective
treatment for acute low back pain."
-Marc
Micozzi, M.D. (July 1, 1998)
"There
is considerable evidence from randomized controlled trials
of the effectiveness of spinal manipulation for back and neck
pain."
-British
Medical Journal (October 30, 1999)
Will
Low Back Pain Go
Away By Itself?
75%
of patients who rely primarily on medication as treatment
will still have pain or disability 2 months later.
-Journal
of Family Practice (April 1999)
"...there
is reason to question assertions that 90% of patients...will
be pain-free within 3 months..."
More
than 60% of low back pain patients treated medically still
have either pain or dysfunction 12 months later.
Daniel
Cherkin, Ph.D., et al (December 15, 1996)
Over
70% of men suffering from a subacute episode of low back pain
will have pain 6 months later.
"The
clinical course of first onset back pain may be prolonged
for many patients, and involves a continuum of related
disability and distress."
-Pain
(November 1997)
"Only
25% of the patients who had consulted [their MD] about low
back pain had fully recovered 12 months later."
-British
Medical Journal (May 2, 1998)
Compared
to same-day treatment, waiting more than a week to begin treatment
for low back pain results in a 70% longer recovery time and
55% more lost work days.
-Journal
of Occupational and Environmental Medicine (January
2000)
The
response of low back pain patients treated medically "clearly
is less favorable than expected."
"It
takes more than a few weeks to recover, and relapses occur
within a year in most cases."
-Annals
of the Rheumatic Diseases (January 1998)
Data
taken from:
A new look at low back complaints
in primary care: a RAMBAM Israeli Family Practice Research
Network study.
Reis S, Hermoni D, Borkan JM, Biderman A, Tabenkin
C, Porat A. Journal of Family Practice 1999 Apr:48(4):299-303
Department of Family Medicine, Technion, Institute
of Technology, Bruce Rappaport Faculty of Medicine, Haifa,
Israel.
Is
Immediate Treatment For
Low Back Pain More Effective Than
Watchful Waiting?
Data
taken from:
Effectiveness of early physical
therapy in the treatment of acute low back musculoskeletal
disorders.
Zigenfus GC, Yin J, Giang GM, Fogarty WT. J Occup Environ
Med 2000 Jan:42(1):35-9
Concentra Health Services, Inc., Addison, Texas 75001,
USA.
How
Effective Are The
Most Common Treatments For
Acute Low Back Pain?
Data
taken from:
Conservative treatment of acute
and chronic nonspecific low back pain. A systematic review
of randomized controlled trials of the most common interventions.
van Tulder MW, Koes BW, Bouter LM. Spine 1997 Sep 15:22(18):2128-2156
Institute for Research in Extramural Medicine, Vrije
Universiteit, Amsterdam, The Netherlands.
