For 90 years, the lines were drawn, the sides were clear. There was the medical side that said chiropractic didn’t work. There were the chiropractic advocates who said that it was very effective. Over the past few years, the medical journals have started publishing research on the subject.

Here are a few of the recent studies that support chiropractic care:

Journal of Occupation and Environmental Medicine, June 2014

This study concluded that the chiropractic patients were the least likely to use common prescriptions or inappropriate imaging and had a significantly lower cost per episode.

Journal of the American Medical Association Patient Page , April 2013  

Their recommendations for the treatment of Low Back Pain include: chiropractic care, exercises, physical therapy, acupuncture and/or medication.

The Joint Commission is a group that sets guidelines for over 20,000 health care facilities in the United States. They revised their pain management standards for low back pain effective January 2015. They recommend non-drug therapies including acupuncture, chiropractic therapy, osteopathic manipulative therapy, relaxation therapy and cognitive behavioral therapy.

The American College of Physicians & American Pain Society states,

“Spinal Manipulation is the only therapy recommended for all stages of Low back pain.”

Finally, The University of Pittsburg Medical Centers has a new policy. This policy requires 3 months of chiropractic or physical therapy before they will accept referrals for their orthopedic surgeons. They recommend treatment with spinal manipulation, exercises and traction.

That’s a lot of support for the effectiveness of chiropractic care.

What about the common medical treatments for back pain?

Prednisone for emergency department low back pain: a randomized controlled trial. Journal of Emergency Medicine 2014. This study concluded, “Prednisone provides ‘no benefit for treatment of acute Low Back Pain.’”

Epidural injections (ESI) Anesthesiology, October 2013 Journal of Bone and Joint Surgery, June 2013. These researchers concluded there is little evidence that a series of ESI results in better outcomes than a single injection. ESI may lead to increased bone fragility over time. Each successive injection increased risk of spinal fracture by 21%.

Acetaminophen (Tylenol) Lancet July 2014 concluded that Acetaminophen shows No Effect on the speed of recovery, pain or improvement of function. The same article looked at NSAIDS like Ibuprophen (Advil) and Naproxen (Aleve). The conclusion was they are less safe than acetaminophen and they are not better at pain reduction. They ended the study stating that providers “need to reconsider recommendations as the first line treatment for LBP.”

Opioids Neurology, September 2014. They concluded, “The risks for chronic opioid therapy for some chronic conditions, such as, headache, fibromyalgia and chronic low back pain, outweigh the benefits.”

Low back pain is the fifth most common reason people visit their primary care physician. More medical doctors are referring people to our office for back pain instead of prescribing medications. We work with your doctor to get the best results in the shortest amount of time.

If you know of someone who is looking for a Louisville chiropractor please have them call our office