In a recent study, a discovery that chiropractic care assists individuals with lower back pain reduce the amount of discomfort they experience. The US study also suggests that chiropractic treatment, when added to general medical back care, can decrease disability in individuals with low back pain.
Researchers in this study looked at 750 US military members who were on active duty and had lower back pain. These individuals used conventional treatments for the pain including physical therapy and prescriptions to deal with their inflammation and to ease the pain. Half of these military personnel’s treatment included chiropractic care such as manipulating the spine, exercises, and therapy with heat and cold. These patients received from two to five chiropractic treatments depending on individual needs.
After six weeks of treatment, the comparison was made between the two treatment groups. The group receiving chiropractic treatment along with traditional treatment had less disability and more substantial reductions in lower back pain. The patients who were treated by a chiropractor had pain levels that were about 1.1 points lower than those who didn’t receive adjustments. Also, these same patients described their pain as muscle and joint stiffness, which was relieved by treatment. Some of these people also reported side effects when they didn’t have procedures by a chiropractor.
Spinal Manipulation, or Hias Chiropractic Adjustment
According to Dr. Christine Goertz, the lead study author, chiropractic adjustments help heal the tissues in your body. The process of spinal manipulation also decreases pain levels and improves your body’s flexibility and ability to move correctly. Dr, Goertz is affiliated with the Palmer College of Chiropractic in Iowa, a famous chiropractic school.
She went on to say that it is believed that manipulation changes the way that the body perceives pain through the spinal cord or brain. This action decreases the amount of pain caused by strained muscles, inflammation or muscle spasms close to your spine.
The Leading Cause of Disability in Adults
Lower back pain continues as one of the primary causes of doctor’s appointments and disability throughout the world. In many cases, the experience of back pain goes away by itself in a few weeks. Unfortunately, some cases don’t resolve by themselves. At that point, the best results are frequently obtained by:
- Manipulating the spine of the lower back and surrounding areas.
- Using muscle relaxants and pain medication.
- Heat.
- Exercise.
- Physical therapy.
Twenty percent of adults in the US experience back pain during their lives. The costs of treating this problem include both direct and indirect costs that include medical treatment and loss of productivity that amounted to a price of over $234 when estimated in 2010 by JAMA. As the fight against opioid addiction increases in the US, doctors need to find methods of treating lower back pain that does not include addictive medications.
The major issue with this study is that back pain differs between people with the problem. It remains tough to diagnose. Also, results from treatments are difficult to verify other than through the reports of the patients themselves. Another glitch that might skew results is that most of the participants in the study were male and that young members of the military are not typical in regards to their health and lifestyle. It remains hard to tell whether the same results would occur in a larger population of people who have back pain. The results are significant enough to have the medical world sit up and take serious notice of them, however. And the findings add to increasing evidence that suggests that using chiropractic treatment improves lower back pain.
Benefits of Chiropractic Treatment
The first benefit of chiropractic treatment is that it seems to work to relieve lower back pain in many cases. Also, using spinal adjustment treatments causes less harm and has lower health risks than injections, surgery, and medications.
While studies continue in regards to using chiropractic treatment to manage back pain, many doctors recommend that adding spinal adjustment treatment causes no harm to their patients, and may do them a great deal of good.
Tunbridge Wells Chiropractic Clinic uses manual adjustment of the spine to help people with various types of lower back pain, as well as other types of neck and spinal pain. Nearly everyone has problems with back pain at some point in their lives. Some people find this back pain to limit their life and work due to movement problems and high pain levels.
Back pain occurs for many reasons. Some of these reasons might be:
- Sitting incorrectly
- Standing incorrectly or inappropriately.
- Stress.
- Lifestyle issues.
- Back strain.
- Wear and tear of the vertebrae over time.
- Old injuries that come back to haunt your back.
But in some cases, there are no exact reasons for the pain in your back. Lots of times there remains no serious underlying cause for lower back pain.
An examination by a qualified and highly trained chiropractor gives a person a diagnosis and a means of treatment that remains holistic, natural and successful. Please contact our office today if we can be of assistance with your back pain.
Regular chiropractic adjustments can keep your back feeling much better for the long run.
Related Articles
- Lunge Stretch for Back Pain
- Getting a Good Night’s Sleep When You Have Back or Joint Pain
- Stay-at-Home Exercises for Your Back
- Back Pain Emergency – Tunbridge Wells
- Will Exercise and Moving About Make Your Chronic Back Problem Worse?
