Health Notes

Chiropractic and Chronic Pain

Part II

In 2005, the Journal of Manipulative and Physiological Therapeutics published a one year follow-up study to the 2003 Spine study that I referenced last week. This 2005 follow-up study showed that the reduction in pain from chiropractic adjustments remained stable one year later, while the few who benefited from drugs and acupuncture had quickly regained their pain after cessation of treatment. The authors of this 2005 research study conclude that “in patients with chronic spinal pain syndrome, spinal manipulation may be the only treatment modality of the assessed regimens that provides broad and significant long-term benefit.” They go on the state that drugs did not achieve any improvement in chronic spinal pain.

In 2004 the British Medical Journal published a study assessing the cost effectiveness of adding spinal manipulation exercise classes, or manipulation followed by exercise in a combined treatment plan. Approximately one third of the manipulations performed in this study were adjustments performed by practicing chiropractors. They found that spinal manipulation alone gives better value for money than manipulation followed by exercise. They also found that manipulation alone yielded the highest improvement in quality of life for these back pain patients, and did so for the lowest cost. These researchers state, “manipulation achieves extended dominance over both exercise and combined treatment.”

They go on to state that, “the improvements in health status recorded here with spinal manipulation reflects statistically significant improvements in function, pain, disability, physical and mental aspects of qualify of life.” These authors also found that these positive benefits of spinal adjustments were still evident twelve months afterwards. So, they feel that the cost effectiveness of spinal adjustments “may be better than we had reported.”

In conclusion, it is important to note that chronic back pain ages the brain, causing atrophy and wasting of brain tissue. These multiple studies show that the most effective treatment for chronic back pain is chiropractic spinal adjustments, when compared with drugs, needle acupuncture, physiotherapy and exercise. Spinal adjustments will successfully treat chronic back pain and can prevent brain atrophy, and even potentially reverse it, according to these research studies.

I trust this will assist those of you who suffer from chronic back pain in seeking the appropriate form of treatment, which will be not only the most cost effective, but give you the most long term benefit, as well as the least health risk.