- Low back pain is the single leading cause of disability worldwide, according to the Global Burden of Disease 2010.
- Lower back pain is one of the most common reasons for missed work. In fact, back pain is the second most common reason for visits to the doctor’s office, outnumbered only by upper-respiratory infections.
- One-half of all working Americans admit to having back pain symptoms each year.
- Experts estimate that as much as 80% of the population will experience a back problem at some time in their lives.
- Chiropractic treatment is cost effective. Care initiated by a medical doctor for low back pain is often 20% more expensive than that initiated by a doctor of chiropractic.
- Americans spend at least $50 billion each year on back pain — and that’s just for the more easily identified costs.
Low Back Treatments in Chicago
One of the best treatments for lower back pain is spinal manipulation. For almost as long as medicine has existed, so has spinal manipulation. Today, the treatment is growing in popularity as more and more people become aware of its benefits for treating back pain, including how cost-effective it is.
The Agency for Health Care Research and Quality recommends using spinal manipulation – the sole initial treatment for low back pain that’s effectual, safe, and does not require the use of medication – to treat adults with severe lower back problems.
Spinal Manipulation Therapy Treatment for Lower Back Problems
Spinal manipulation has been around since the early days of medicine and based on solid scientific evidence that all organs and tissues in your body are controlled by the brain. The brain communicates to these organs and tissues via the spinal cord and spinal nerves. If these nerves are pinched or impacted in any way that decreases this communication disease and pain ensue.
With today's growing emphasis on treatment and cost effectiveness, spinal manipulation is receiving more widespread attention.
Spinal manipulation is a safe and effective spine pain treatment. It reduces pain (decreasing the need for medication in some cases), rapidly advances physical therapy, and requires very few passive forms of treatment, such as bed rest. In fact, after an extensive study of all available care for low back problems, the federal Agency for Health Care Policy and Research (now the Agency for Health Care Research and Quality) recommended that low back pain sufferers choose the most conservative care first. And it recommended spinal manipulation as the only safe and effective, drugless form of initial professional treatment for acute low back problems in adults.
A well respected review of the evidence in the Annals of Internal Medicine pointed to chiropractic care as one of the major nonpharmacologic therapies considered effective for acute and chronic low back pain. More recently, research has shown that there is strong evidence that spinal manipulation for back pain is just as effective as a combination of medical care and exercise, and moderate evidence that it is just as effective as prescription NSAIDS combined with exercise. A patient information article published in the Journal of the American Medical Association in 2013 also suggested chiropractic care as an option for people suffering from low back pain--and noted that surgery is usually not needed and should only be tried if other therapies fail.
The practice of manipulating the spine is based on the control that evidence suggests the brain has over tissues and organs. The spinal nerves and spinal cord play a vital role in allowing the brain to communicate with the many tissues and organs within the body. Problems like impacted and pinched nerves can disrupt this communication, resulting in pain.
Spinal manipulation treatment is very effective at alleviating spine pain and can often reduce a person’s reliance on pain-relieving medications. The treatment is safe, it doesn’t rely on many additional passive treatments like bed rest, and it’s able to significantly speed up physical therapy.
New research has provided evidence that using spinal manipulation to treat low back pain could be as effectual as alternative treatments, like exercise and medical care or exercise and nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs.
Why Chiropractic Care is the Best Way to Treat Lower Back Pain
Chiropractic care is one of the best ways to treat a large number of conditions, including lower back pain. In one of the most highly regarded evidence reviews of the Annals of Internal Medicine, chiropractic care was considered to be amongst the most significant nonpharmacologic therapies available to effectively treat severe and persistent lower back problems.
Not only is chiropractic care widely considered to be a safe and very successful treatment for back pain, but it’s also cost-effective. Half of the working population of America experience the symptoms of back pain every single year. It’s estimated that back pain in America costs a minimum of $50 billion per year and could be significantly more. Visiting a chiropractor for lower back pain treatment typically costs 20% less than what medical doctors charge.
Chiropractors provide a number of advanced conservative treatments that treat the root cause of problems and can also give patients invaluable advice on preventing common problems. A chiropractor can educate patients on healthy practices and help patients to implement important preventive lifestyle changes, such as:
- Warming up before partaking in physical activities
- Regular exercise
- Investing in a firmer mattress
- Moving frequently
- Stretching after physical activities (as muscles contract during exercise, stretching – which increases muscle length – is most effective after exercising)
- Wearing the correct footwear
- Giving up smoking
- Improving posture
- Eating healthily (we advise the 80/20 rule, where you don’t need to give up your favorite foods to eat healthy!)
- Improving lifting techniques
At Advanced Spine & Sports Care, we provide conservative treatment for lower back pain and other conditions in 90% of cases. This includes when all treatments except surgery have previously been ruled out!
Advanced Chiropractic Care for Lower Back Pain
It’s estimated that 80% of people will suffer from at least one back-related problem during their lifetime. In the Global Burden of Disease 2010, pain in the lower back was identified as causing more disabilities than any other problem in the world.
For many people who come to Advanced Spine & Sports Care asking if chiropractic care is a way to relieve their pain, it’s the perfect solution. Contact us today to learn more about our options for advanced chiropractic care to treat lower back pain in Chicago.