“As
governments and health systems around the globe search for answers to
complicated health challenges such as rising numbers of chronically ill and
disabled patients and runaway costs, research is finally demonstrating what the
chiropractic profession has promoted for
years: that caring for patients with
conservative treatments first, before moving on to less conservative options or
unnecessary drugs and surgery, is a sensible and cost-effective strategy,” said
American Chiropractic Association President Keith Overland, DC. (The ACA is the largest professional association in
the United States representing doctors of chiropractic.)
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| Ready for surgery (Photo credit: Zdenko Zivkovic) |
While at first sounding self-serving, Keith Overland’s
commentary has been backed up by no fewer than three recent medical studies:
1.
One study in Medical
Care found that adjusted
annual medical costs among complementary and alternative medicine (CAM) users
was $424 lower for spine-related costs, and $796 lower for total health care
cost than among non-CAM users. Furthermore, CAM treatments were cost neutral to
health care systems, meaning that CAM users did not add to the overall medical
spending in a national sample of patients with neck and back problems.
Two additional studies also reinforce
ACA’s longstanding position that health care providers should start with
conservative approaches to treatment, such as those services provided by
doctors of chiropractic, before guiding their patients to more aggressive
treatment alternatives.
2.
Published
in The Lancet, “The Global Burden of Disease 2010,” authored by an international group of
experts assessing the world’s biggest health challenges, underscores the need
for better solutions to back pain and other musculoskeletal conditions. The
massive survey indicates that while people may be living longer they are doing
so more frequently with disability. The study cites musculoskeletal conditions
as the second leading cause of disability, and cites low-back pain as one of
the major contributors to disability worldwide.
3.
Another recent study in the medical journal Spine found a strong association between
chiropractic care and the avoidance of lumbar spine surgery. The American
Chiropractic Association is encouraged by this and other recent research
supporting chiropractic’s conservative, less costly approach to low-back pain.
Key findings of the Spine study show that 42.7 percent of workers who initially visited a
surgeon underwent surgery, compared to only 1.5 percent of those who first
consulted a chiropractor. This important study was conducted by a
collaboration of prestigious institutions, including Geisel School of Medicine
at Dartmouth College, University of Washington School of Public Health,
University of Washington School of Medicine, Ohio State University College of
Public Health and the Washington State Department of Labor and Industries.
Since back injuries are one of the
most prevalent occupational hazards in the U.S., and care commonly associated
with it can be one of the most costly, those seeking treatment need to weigh
all the facts. When it comes to choosing
the least invasive treatment, the numbers speak for themselves. Chiropractic is
clearly something that anyone experiencing back pain should consider as the most
appropriate first treatment.
Dr. Dave
Edenfield is part of the
team of doctors and therapists at http://lakewoodchiropracticjax.com who are dedicated to helping you and your family lead a healthier,
happier and pain-free life.
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