Low Back Pain

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) recently reported that Americans are living longer, but with more chronic back pain. More than 25% of American adults suffered at least a day of back pain in the previous month.

A recent study compared the effectiveness of chiropractic care to traditional medical management for low back pain (LBP) with results showing a higher rate of success for chiropractic care.

The study included 2,870 adult patients with LBP from both chiropractic offices and general practice clinics.  Patients were asked to rate their pain levels at the onset and at intervals for the following for years.  The results showed the biggest improvement in the first three months of initial treatment with a “modest advantage” for chiropractic care over medical care for chronic pain patients.   Patients were asked to score their pain on a scale of 0 to 100.  The comparison of chiropractic vs. medical care scores showed an average difference of 12.2 points at one month and 10.5 points at three months, favoring chiropractic care.

There is a growing body of research showing that chiropractic care can be helpful in a number of conditions, including chronic headache, stress and even arthritis pain. I

References:

1. www.chiropracticresearchreview.com.
2. Health, United States, 2006. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
3. Reuters press release: "Long-Term Pain Hits 1 in 10 Adults." Nov. 14, 2006.
4. Haas M, Goldberg B, Aickin M, et al. A practice-based study of patients with acute and chronic low back pain attending primary care and chiropractic physicians: two-week to 48-month follow-up. Journal of Manipulative and Physiological Therapeutics 2004;27:160-169.