Treating Chronic Back Pain With
Chiropractic
 Low back pain is a very common condition, and one that is very
expensive for our health care system. Experts estimate that chronic
back pain costs the US about $100 billion each year in direct
and indirect costs. As the authors of a new study write:
“One factor explaining these enormous costs is the high
rate of recurrence and chronic disability related to low-back
disorders…It has been suggested that only 10% of LBP patients
generate more than 80% of the total costs related to LBP.”
Because of the enormous costs of treating chronic back pain,
prevention is an important goal. This current study set out to
examine the role of chiropractic in treating chronic low back
pain. The authors studied 30 patients who had back pain for at
least six months. All patients were subjected to a one-month
control period that consisted of no treatment. This was included
so that the researchers could observe the natural course of the
back pain symptoms.
After this baseline period, half of the patients (Group 1) received
intensive chiropractic treatment consisting of 12 treatments
in one month, then no treatments for nine months. The other half
of the patients (Group 2) received the same intensive treatment,
but also received maintenance chiropractic treatments every 3
weeks for nine months. At the end of the nine-month period, both
groups were again examined.
After analyzing the results, the authors found the following:
Pain levels were reduced in both groups of patients. The intensive
month of chiropractic adjustments reduced pain, even without
follow-up care.
Disability levels, however, showed a different response. For
the patients with no continuing treatment, the disability levels
returned to their pretreatment levels on the Oswestry. The Group
2 patients – who received maintenance care – continued
to see improvement in disability scores over the whole nine months.
The following graph illustrates the differences between the
two groups on disability levels:
The authors conclude:
“This study appears to confirm previous reports showing
that LBP and disability scores are reduced after spinal manipulation.
It also shows the positive effects of preventive chiropractic
treatment in maintaining functional capacities and reducing the
number and intensity of pain episodes after an acute phase of
treatment. Maintenance chiropractic care involving spinal manipulation
combined with other treatment modalities (exercises, pain management
program) should be investigated. Such combined interventions
may have a critical influence on pain, disability, and return
to work.”
Descarreaux M, Blouin JS, Drolet M, Papadimitriou S, Teasdale
N. Efficacy of preventive spinal manipulation for chronic low-back
pain and related disabilities: a preliminary study. Journal of
Manipulative and Physiological Therapeutics 2004;27:509-514.
Dr. Mario Fucinari D.C. is a chiropractic physician and director of Decatur Back and Neck Center. Contact us for an appointment today. |
