Chiropractic and Pain Relief

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.

More on Carpal Tunnel Syndrome

Good News about Carpal Tunnel Syndrome

 

When you have carpal tunnel syndrome, it may seem that life has come to a standstill. You may found it difficult to wash your hair in the shower, button your buttons and zip up your parka, type on the computer keyboard, do simple household chores, sleep and even drive a car without pain. With constant pain, it’s easy to think about giving up!

 

The good news is that a chiropractor can definitely make a difference in your life. The road to recovery will take awhile, but with treatments and proper home care, you will soon discover that you can gain much control over the pain that accompanies this musculoskeletal disorder.

 

As your chiropractor, I’ve already done everything to insure that your carpal tunnel syndrome is not the result of serious disease. I have set up a treatment plan for you that I am confident will help us address the causes of this disorder once and for all. My goal is for you to be free of carpal tunnel syndrome within six months. Many of my patients begin their carpal tunnel syndrome-free life a lot earlier than that and they do it because they continue treatment and follow my home care recommendations.

How Spinal Decompression Works Part II

Spinal decompression can trick the body into relaxing. Regular pulling of the spine can trigger sensors in the muscles, and cause them to tighten up. Spinal decompression can bypass the muscle tightening response of the body. This is accomplished by gently pulling on the spine and relaxing the back over a period of time. The spine is able to reposition without tension, or putting itself into an emergency tighten down mode.

How Spinal Decompression Works Part I

An increase in disc pressure causes the disc to bulge, and causes a lot of pain. Spinal decompression creates a negative pressure within the spinal disc that produces a vacuum. This vacuum helps pull nutrients and fluids into the disc region. This in turn helps facilitate the healing process, and helps retract the disc into a more proper position. This improved position is very beneficial for disc health.