And the Winner is...Chiropractic
You
suffer from low back pain (LBP) and you'd like to seek a doctor's care, but
you're not sure where to go. Consider this: A recent study compared the
effectiveness of chiropractic care vs. medical management for LBP and found
that chiropractic care had a higher rate of success in treating LBP than did
traditional medical care.
Researchers
examined 2,870 adult patients with acute or chronic LBP from the practices of
51 chiropractic clinics and 14 general practice community clinics. At
baseline and at various intervals over the next four years, patients rated
the intensity of their current pain levels on a pain scale of 0-100 and
completed a questionnaire designed to measure the effects of their pain on
functional disability.
Results: The greatest degree of
improvement was seen within three months of the initial treatment of back
pain, with a “modest advantage” seen for chiropractic care over medical care
of chronic pain patients in the first 12 months. At the one- and three-month
intervals, “clinical importance” was achieved with chiropractic care
administered to chronic LBP patients. Comparing chiropractic vs. medical
care, the average difference in pain scores was 12.2 points at one month and
10.5 points at three months, favoring chiropractic care.
Still
undecided? Chiropractic isn't just for back pain anymore. Regular
chiropractic care has been shown to, among other things, relieve chronic
headache and arthritis pain as well as relieve stress and promote general
health. For more information on this and other studies highlighting the
benefits of chiropractic, visit www.chiropracticresearchreview.com.