Chiropractic More Effective For Low Back Pain Than Medical Doctor

The March/April 2004; 27(3):160-169 Journal of Manipulative and Physiological Therapeutics conducted a study on patients with acute and low back pain who had care at medical and chiropractic facilities.

This study was done over a 4 year period and involved 2,780 patients. Chiropractic patients received spinal manipulation, physical therapy, exercise plans, and self care education.  Medical care involved prescription medication, exercise plans, and self care advice; approximately 25% of the medical care group was referred to physical therapy.  Pain reduction and improvement in disability were observed in all groups.

Most of the pain relief was achieved by the three month follow up and remained relatively constant through 12 months. However, pain and disability rose substantially between 12-24 months, and then plateaued through the 4 year follow-up.

Chiropractic was seen to have an advantage compared to a medical doctor in the first 12 months with clinical importance noted at 1 and 3 months for chronic patients.

For acute patients there was an advantage for chiropractic in the first 12 months.  In terms of pain levels the average VAS score was 12.2 points lower for chiropractic patients at the first month and 10.5 lower at 3 months. 

When leg pain was included in the analysis, chiropractic showed a greater advantage with pain levels on average 18.3-21.7 points lower than the medical treatment group. Disability levels (Oswestry scale) were 9.0-13.9 points lower over a three year period. 

At the three year follow up patients receiving chiropractic care reported fewer days of low back pain than those treated by a medical doctor.

In terms of effectiveness chiropractic care demonstrated an advantage over medical care for acute and chronic patients particularly those with leg pain. Most relief was achieved within 3 months and sustained for 12 months.

SO what does this study mean....

If you have pain in your back, neck, shoulder, knee or any part of the body Go see a chiropractor First
(IN THE FIRST MONTH OF SYMPTOMS)  if it is outside his/her scope of practice he/she will refer you to the proper medical professional.

Dr. Vance DC