A large percentage
of the population of the United States will experience a significant episode of
lower back pain before the age of 40. Significant lower back pain is defined as
more than the mild soreness one gets after physical activity like gardening or
vacuuming the house. Low back pain of significance is a very intense to
excruciating pain and keeps one from normal activities such as sleeping well,
being able to do chores at home or in the yard, interfering with job duties,
taking care of children and family members, being able to bath, get dressed,
drive and cook for oneself, and being able to enjoy recreational activities
like golfing, exercise and hobbies.
Overall, the
evidence is that lower back pain does not resolve itself when ignored. For this
reason low back pain of significance is a controversial subject. Many health
professionals and insurance companies tend to still believe that lower back
pain is a condition that resolves on its own within a period of time. They also
believe that if the pain returns the patient should just "deal with
it" and it will go away at some point.
Yet scientific
studies do not show this to be the case. Significant lower back pain tends to
not go away or resolve itself on its own. It is not a health condition that
should be ignored. For instance, a comprehensive research study published in
The European Spine Journal in 2003 reported that 62% of patients who had a
major episode of low back discomfort still experienced pain 12 months after it
began. The percentage of people who experienced relapses or re-occurrences of
back pain after an initial episode was 60%. And 33% of those experiencing an
episode of pain in their back had relapses of work absences within one year.
Since it is clearly
apparent that chronic pain of the back is a condition that requires
professional treatment and supervision what is the preferred method of
management?
Fortunately, this
also has been studied and the solution is chiropractic care. Chiropractic treatment
is performed by licensed doctors of chiropractic. Chiropractors have extensive
training in the anatomy and biomechanics of the lower back. They also are able
to expertly diagnosis the causes of mechanical/physical pain of the back. Once
a chiropractor has examined a patient and determined what is causing the lower
back pain they can then administer chiropractic manipulative therapy, sometimes
called a chiropractic adjustment. Chiropractic manipulations work to realign
the spine and to correct abnormal movements of the spine.
Two research
studies were done to determine an effective way for patients and doctors to
treat chronic lower back discomfort with chiropractic care. The studies gave a
number of patients chiropractic adjustments three times a week for four weeks.
With this care patients made substantial improvement with their degree of pain
and their abilities to perform normal activities of daily living. Half of the
patients then ended their care. The other half of the patients were then given chiropractic
manipulation once every two or three weeks for a period of nine months. Those
patients continuing care not only maintained their improvement of pain
reduction and function of daily living activities but also had further gains.
The patients whose care was discontinued regressed back to the original pain
and dysfunction they initially exhibited.
Chiropractic
therapy has been shown to be more effective for pain of the back than
medication, exercises or surgery. It has also been proven to be the safest of
all treatment for back pain as well as the least costly. Consumer Reports has
also published information that shows chiropractors have very high satisfaction
rates among patients.
The next step in
the treatment and management of chronic low back pain is to recognize it as a
condition similar to high blood pressure or diabetes and realize that with some
degree of periodic chiropractic maintenance or supportive care we can
effectively help patients with ongoing chronic lower back pain.
