Skip to main content
Continued Chiropractic Care for Chronic Low Back Pain


This is a little provocative.  Why should someone continue seeing a Chiropractor for low back pain?  Some in the public feel like this is just a scam perpetuated by the Doctor of Chiropractic sometimes.  Especially if the low back pain is better or if we have reached a maximal therapeutic benefit (meaning we’ve gotten you as good as we can) there is confusion on the part of the patient as to why they need to keep seeing the chiropractor.  This confusion is fair and must be addressed.  The goal of this post is to help inform our current and potentially future patients as to the importance of continued chiropractic care. 
This first part refers to an article in the journal Spine from 2011.  Two Medical Doctors, Senna and Machaly, performed a single-blinded study comparing sham Spinal Manipulative treatment to treatment that discontinued after initial course of care and to Spinal Manipulative Treatment that continued every two weeks after the initial 1-month care.  The study showed that the two groups that received the actual adjustment had significantly less pain than those who got the fake adjustment.  What’s more, the group that discontinued care after one month saw a return of pain and disability where the continued care group continued seeing the benefits of adjustments.
Here’s a way to think of this:  if you go to the dentist and get a cavity filled, do you then no longer have to worry about your tooth health, or do you need to continue care both at home and in the office to ensure your oral health is maintained or increased?  Of course you need to continue care.  Just because you no longer have pain, doesn’t mean you are necessarily cured from the problem that brought you in.  In some cases, it may take a while to see the pain return, but 10 percent of people with low back pain will see the condition become chronic.  Also, you may still have pain after that first month or six week period, but I personally would rather live with a 2/10 than an 8/10 over having that 2/10 return to an 8/10 after I discontinue care.
Discontinuing your care after you no longer are experiencing symptoms is an understandable temptation, but if you want to return to your pre-injury state (or as close to it as possible), and enjoy the benefits of spinal health, be open to the maintenance care plan your DC recommends.

Reference:
Does Maintained Spinal Manipulation Therapy for Chronic Nonspecific Low Back Pain Result in Better Long-term Outcom?, Senna, Mohammed. Machaly, Shareen. Spine. August 15, 2011. Vol 36. Issue 18.  http://journals.lww.com/spinejournal/Abstract/2011/08150/Does_Maintained_Spinal_Manipulation_Therapy_for.2.aspx



Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

You aren't being chased by a tiger all day... stop acting like it

                Mental stress is something we all deal with.   While there are positive and negative scenarios surrounding the source of the stress, our bodies react the same way regardless.   Being chased by a tiger has the same physiological reaction as the first day of your dream job.   Our physiological reaction is a good thing, in fact.   Both from an adaptation perspective and from a biological perspective.   The problem is that we aren’t designed to be chased by a tiger from the moment we wake up to the moment we finally fall asleep.                 “What can be done though?” the reader thought aloud with rapt attention.                 I get it.   There are some stresses that are unavoidable, but there are ways to minimize the effects they have on us.   If you are required to commute, you can see if public transportation would be a good fit.   The train or bus will likely take longer than driving yourself, but you can read,or catch a nap, or text or go on social media or
Post a Comment
Read more
My Chiropractic Story                 It’s interesting, looking back, to note how much chiropractic was in my life before I realized it.   When I was younger, my sister and I would stand on each other’s backs.   Sometimes our upper backs would “crack”.   Since a young age, I would feel like pressure in my upper back would be relieved by having my back pushed on.   My first official taste of chiropractic was during football with low back spasms, which I’ve mentioned in previous blog posts.   When I was being seen by the chiropractor, he told me my left leg was an inch shorter than the other.   He gave me exercises to perform and told gave me a certain frequency that he recommended I see him to get this fixed.   I went one other time and did the exercises and stretches as prescribed and refrained from participating in football the whole duration he recommended.   I only went one time though.                   I was young and foolish.   In hindsight, I wish I’d have gone at least
Post a Comment
Read more

Pain and mental health

                One of the symptoms of depression is vague aches and pains.   One of the complications to chronic pain is depression.   For many it can be similar to the question regarding the chicken or the egg.   Did significant trauma at a young age (even unremembered) cause the brain to grow weary of constant pain, resulting in depressive and anxious symptoms?   Or did depression which came on in adolescence develop into physical symptoms that have grown into more severe and frequent complaints?                 Does the question even matter?   Do we really care if the person has been suffering from pain and is depressed from it, versus if the person has been depressed and is suffering from pain because of it?   There are many who would argue that it doesn’t matter.   We can be given psychotropic drugs for the depressive symptoms, and ibuprofen (or stronger) for the pain.                   How about this:   how many people have you met who’s lives have been significantly i
Post a Comment
Read more