Does your back hurt at the end of the day? Neck and shoulders stiff? You’re not alone. There were more than 132,000,000 doctor visits for musculoskeletal complaints in 2006. We spend about $850 billion a year on musculoskeletal problems. By far, most of that money is spent on drugs and surgery. But there are safer, less expensive, and more effective ways to deal with pain.
A study in 2013 examined people with new workman’s compensation disability claims for back injuries. It found that people who went to a chiropractor first were less likely to get surgery down the road. Of workers who went to a surgeon first, 42.7% had surgery, in contrast to only 1.5% of those who saw a chiropractor.
Another 2013 study compared how soldiers did if they got standard medical care vs. standard medical care plus chiropractic therapy for low back pain. The results showed that pain was less, and ability to function normally was better, with chiropractic care. Another study followed 894 patients for one year, looking at worker’s compensation claims. They found that chiropractic care resulted in the lowest rate of recurrent claims. This means that people who got chiropractic care were half as likely to be disabled as people who got physical therapy, and 60% less likely to be disabled than people who got treated only by a medical doctor.
Other studies: Low back pain care from a DC saves 40% on health care costs when compared to care from an MD. . . Chiropractic treatments for back and neck pain are significantly more cost-effective than all other approaches. Compared to traditional medical treatment, chiropractic care results in 43% fewer hospital admissions, 58.4% less days spent in hospitals, 43.2% fewer outpatient surgeries, and 51.8% less in pharmaceutical costs. . .Chiropractic provided more long-term benefit than other modalities. . .
I often think that being a medical doctor or pharmacist would get depressing, since so much time and money is spent on controlling symptoms without fixing the problems. I love being a chiropractor, because when I reduce and eliminate people’s symptoms, it is because I am correcting the actual cause. And all the research supports that that is the right approach to back and neck pain.