Did you know low back pain is prevalent in around 80% of the population? Did you know that low back pain is the leading cause of missed work days and disability? The treatment of chronic low back pain is accumulating huge expenses and experts estimate that it costs the United States $100 billion every year.
Too many times chronic low back pain is treated with medications or surgery that just cover up the symptoms temporarily. This leads to a high degree of multiple occurrences of back pain and chronic conditions. By treating the symptoms, the underlying cause deteriorates. This would be similar to having a cavity and going to a dentist that just shoots the tooth with Novocaine but leaves the cavity alone. You know the cavity would keep decaying and get worse. It just doesn’t make sense to do yet that is how you treat your body.
To help reduce costs of healthcare it is so important for people to use preventative measures. A current study set out to show how chiropractic can help in treatment of low back pain: Efficacy of Preventive Spinal Manipulation for Chronic Low-Back Pain and Related Disabilities – A Preliminary Study.
30 patients with non-specific chronic low back pain were split into 2 groups. One group received no treatment for one month which showed over time there was no change in pain level or disability. Thereafter both groups received an intensive 4 week treatment plan of 12 visits. The first group received no other treatment for 9 months. The second group received maintenance chiropractic adjustments every 3 weeks during those same 9 months.
The results showed both groups had reduction in both pain and disability levels after the one month of treatment. Even after 9 months the pain levels of both groups remained at the post treatment levels. The important finding is that those patients that did not receive maintenance visits returned to their pretreatment disability levels. The second group that received maintenance chiropractic visits not only maintained their postintensive treatment scores but showed a gradual continued improvement!
This graph shows the results:
This study confirms other studies that shows chiropractic treatment helps chronic low back pain. It also shows the additional benefits of preventative chiropractic care in maintaining the benefits of previous intense treatment. This can help reduce the long term costs of future low back pain episodes.
In our Freehold Chiropractic office, Dr. Russell Brokstein incorporates an active treatment plan that not only includes adjustments but also therapeutic stretching and exercises that also are beneficial in treating low back pain. We also advise on home stretching that helps benefit during the periods in between maintenance treatments.