Chiropractors Not Magicians When It Comes to Chronic Back Pain

About 80 percent of Americans will suffer from back pain, most commonly in the lower back. A recent analysis of 26 cases of short term lower back pain revealed that these patients receiving relief from chiropractic manipulations would receive the same degree of relief by taking over the counter pain relievers such as naproxen or ibuprofen.

Despite the findings, the American College of Physicians has recommended non- medicinal treatments as a first line of defense for those experiencing lower back pain, lasting last than six weeks. The ACP recommends massage, heat, exercise, physical therapy and spinal manipulations by a medical professional as a first line of treatment.

A doctor at the VA medical center in Los Angeles relates that time would be the best treatment to heal lower back pain, as long as it is not sciatica a nerve condition. He does suggest however, that anyone suffering from transient lower back pain stay active. He relates that given time, the patients would have felt better given time to recover.

Likely, the patients who received chiropractic relief were also doing things on their own, including medications and application of heat to treat this pain. Therefore, the chiropractic findings may not be completely correct. If you do enjoy the relationship with your physician and the feeling you get from treatment, chiropractic treatment is safe and can be continued.

Key Points:

  • 1Chiropractic manipulation of the back has been found to have similar affects on chronic back pain as does anti inflammatory drugs.
  • 2Back pain is the most common complaint among Americans. It is estimated 80% of the population deals with back pain regularly.
  • 3There is no one size fits all cure. Your treatment options will depend on your injury and physical  level.


But spinal manipulation is no magic bullet, the researchers behind the new study the benefits appear similar to those of nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs) such as ibuprofen and naproxen.
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Written by HealthStatus
Medical Writer & Editor

HealthStatus has been operating since 1998 providing the best interactive health tools on the Internet, millions of visitors have used our health risk assessment, body fat and calories burned calculators. The HealthStatus editorial team has continued that commitment to excellence by providing our visitors with easy to understand high quality health content for many years.

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