Low Back Pain, Chiropractic, & Research

Eighty percent of adults will have an episode of low back pain at some time in their life. Some good news about this is that under 15% will complain that their pain lasts longer than 2 weeks.
Estimations are that over 90% of patients with low back pain will have self resolution to their symptoms within a month. This is generally pretty good news to know that low back pain doesn't have to be a life sentence.

Well what are the chances of getting an accurate diagnosis of the cause of your low back pain? Often times not good. The reason for this is that there are numerous structures and reasons that can cause low back pain. Often times it can be a combination of reasons as well. Let's go over a few.

A common myth is that nerves get too much pressure on them or get pinched. Research has not supported this as a cause of low back pain. If a disc in the low back is part of the problem, it is most likely due to inflammation caused by injury to the actual disc which releases chemicals that then irritate the nerves and causes pain. The outer part of the disc also contains sensitive nerve endings which give us pain when they are injured.

Joints ligaments or capsules on the back of the spine called facets can often become sprained causing pain into the back and buttocks. Both sides of the joint can forcefully contact against each other when extending backwards. If done enough times, it can lead to degeneration or referral of pain to other body locations.

4% of low back pain cases is due to compression fractures.

3% of cases are due to abnormal translation (forward movement of vertebrae) called spondylolisthesis.

1% of low back pain is caused by malignant neoplasms (cancer).

0.01% of low back pain is due to spinal infections.

There are numerous other potential causes, but the above was just a sample. Finding a healthcare professional that can help you eliminate life-threatening causes as a source of low back pain is essential. If the reason for your pain happens to be due to certain problems with the disc, muscles, or other soft tissues of the low back, then chiropractic care is an excellent choice of treatment. In fact doctors of chiropractic are trained to diagnose, and treat numerous causes of low back pain. There is a multitude of research that backs up the effectiveness of chiropractic care. Here are a few studies:

A study completed in 2000 from the Journal of Manipulative and Physiological Therapuetics (JMPT) concluded that under chiropractic care, patients with mechanical neck or back pain showed significant improvement.

Another 2000 study in JMPT showed that 90% of chiropractic patients claimed satisfaction with their care compared to 52% of medical patients regarding low back pain.

In 2003 the medical journal Spine published a study showing that manipulation, which is a chiropractic specialty delivered to patients, experienced the greatest short-term benefits in spite of the fact that they had the longest pre-treatment duration of pain (8.3 years on average). They showed that 27% recovered in a nine week period or less.

A study published in the medical journal Spine in 2003 compared manual therapy (such as chiropractic care) to exercise therapy alone. In 2 months time, 67% of the manual therapy group were able to return back to work compared to 27% with the exercise group.

A 2004 study in JMPT compared chiropractic care to traditional medical care for low back pain. This study concluded that chiropractic patients with chronic and acute low-back pain experienced greater relief up to one year following treatment versus medical care.

Today's point: If you have low back pain, get it diagnosed by your chiropractic doctor or medical doctor. If your condition is not caused by a life threatening problem, chiropractic care is a leader in safe and effective treatment options. Care will vary depending on which chiropractor you see but it usually exists of several treatments utilizing various forms of conservative care such as spinal manipulation, soft-tissue mobilization, therapeutic exercises (rehab), and nutritional and lifestyle recommendations/modifications.

Brad Zupancich, D.C. is the clinical director of Z Spine and Joint Center located within Solimar Wellness Spa in Eagan, MN -(651) 686-6686. Dr. Zupancich is a certified practitioner in the Graston Technique as well as a certified physician with the Motion Palpation Institute.

Any advice or opinions given in this article are not intended as a diagnosis or substitute for an examination from a healthcare practitioner. For more information visit www.ZSpineAndJoint.com or www.GrastonTechnique.com.