Here’s a question that Dr. Tracy is often asked, “Why should I choose chiropractic care over medication or surgery?” The bottom line is research shows that, in most cases, chiropractic is significantly more effective than medical intervention for neck and back pain. Moreover, chiropractic is all natural. Chiropractic adjustments realign the spine, allowing the body to heal without the hazards of drugs or surgery. Want proof? Read on to learn about recent studies.
According to a paper published in the prestigious medical journal, Annals of Internal Medicine, chiropractic care is significantly more effective than medication for neck pain. The experiment enrolled 272 people, ages 18 to 65, who had suffered from neck pain for two to twelve weeks. They were randomly assigned to one of three intervention groups: 1) chiropractic care, 2) medication, or 3) home exercise. Treatment lasted for 12 weeks. The medications given included common muscle relaxants and non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs, such as aspirin, ibuprofen and naproxen. Opioid painkillers, such as OxyContin, Percocet, Vicodin and morphine were also prescribed. Standard medical tests were conducted to assess improvement at 2, 4, 8, 12, 26 and 52 weeks after the study began. Results revealed that chiropractic care, like that provided by Dr. Tracy, had a statistically significant advantage over medication after 8, 12, 26 and 52 weeks. Home exercise was also superior to medication at 26 weeks. In addition, members of the medication group reported significantly more adverse reactions and were dramatically more likely to increase medication usage.
Chiropractic care is often as effective as surgery for sciatica, say researchers who followed 40 patients with sciatic pain. All the study participants had tried other treatments for at least three months, with no results. These treatments included pain medication, lifestyle modification, physiotherapy, massage therapy and acupuncture. The patients were randomly assigned to undergo surgery or receive chiropractic care. 60% of the patients benefited from chiropractic to the same degree as if they underwent surgical intervention. A large study published by the Cochrane Library confirms that chiropractic is as effective as common medical interventions, such as painkiller medication, for chronic low back pain. The study also concludes that chiropractic is safe. The review authors looked at 26 randomized controlled studies on spinal manipulative therapy, including a total of 6,070 participants.
Chiropractic adjustments are as effective as medication for the treatment of migraine headache, say researchers. The investigators randomly assigned 218 migraine patients to an eight-week course of chiropractic adjustments, the common migraine medication amitriptyline or a combination of the two treatments. Chiropractic care proved as effective as medication. What’s more, the combination of chiropractic and medication was not more effective than chiropractic alone. “There was no advantage to combining amitriptyline and spinal manipulation for the treatment of migraine headache,” concludes the report. “Spinal manipulation seemed to be as effective as a well-established and efficacious treatment, and on the basis of a benign side effects profile, it should be considered a treatment option for patients with frequent migraine headaches.
What’s worse than enduring low back pain? Having bouts of pain recur over and over again. Sadly, recurrence is common following medical treatment for back pain. On the other hand, chiropractic patients are considerably less likely to have to bear with a recurrence. These findings are from a study published in the Journal of Occupational and Environmental Medicine. As part of the analysis, researchers used workers’ compensation data to follow 894 patients with work-related low back pain for one year. Results revealed that care provided by a physical therapist or physician was associated with a higher disability recurrence than care provided by a doctor of chiropractic.