What to Do About Ongoing Chronic Low Back Pain

A large percentage of the population of the United States will
experience a significant episode of lower back pain before the
age of 40. Significant lower back pain is defined as more than
the mild soreness one gets after physical activity like gardening
or vacuuming the house. Low back pain of significance is a very
intense to excruciating pain and keeps one from normal activities
such as sleeping well, being able to do chores at home or in the
yard, interfering with job duties, taking care of children and
family members, being able to bath, get dressed, drive and cook
for oneself, and being able to enjoy recreational activities like
golfing, exercise and hobbies.

Overall, the evidence is that lower back pain does not resolve
itself when ignored. For this reason low back pain of significance
is a controversial subject. Many health professionals and insurance
companies tend to still believe that lower back pain is a condition
that resolves on its own within a period of time. They also believe
that if the pain returns the patient should just “deal with it” and
it will go away at some point.

Yet scientific studies do not show this to be the case. Significant
ower back pain tends to not go away or resolve itself on its own. It
is not a health condition that should be ignored. For instance, a
comprehensive research study published in The European Spine Journal
in 2003 reported that 62% of patients who had a major episode of low
back discomfort still experienced pain 12 months after it began. The
percentage of people who experienced relapses or re-occurrences of
back pain after an initial episode was 60%. And 33% of those
experiencing an episode of pain in their back had relapses of work
absences within one year.

Since it is clearly apparent that chronic pain of the back is a
condition that requires professional treatment and supervision what
is the preferred method of management?

Fortunately, this also has been studied and the solution is
chiropractic care. Chiropractic treatment is performed by licensed
doctors of chiropractic. Chiropractors have extensive training in the
anatomy and biomechanics of the lower back. They also are able to
expertly diagnosis the causes of mechanical/physical pain of the back.
Once a chiropractor has examined a patient and determined what is
causing the lower back pain they can then administer chiropractic
manipulative therapy, sometimes called a chiropractic adjustment.
Chiropractic manipulations work to realign the spine and to correct
abnormal movements of the spine.

Two research studies were done to determine an effective way for
patients and doctors to treat chronic lower back discomfort with
chiropractic care. The studies gave a number of patients chiropractic
adjustments three times a week for four weeks. With this care patients
made substantial improvement with their degree of pain and their
abilities to perform normal activities of daily living. Half of the
patients then ended their care. The other half of the patients were
then given chiropractic manipulation once every two or three weeks for
a period of nine months. Those patients continuing care not only
maintained their improvement of pain reduction and function of daily
living activities but also had further gains. The patients whose care
was discontinued regressed back to the original pain and dysfunction
they initially exhibited.

Chiropractic therapy has been shown to be more effective for pain of
the back than medication, exercises or surgery. It has also been proven
to be the safest of all treatment for back pain as well as the least
costly. Consumer Reports has also published information that shows
chiropractors have very high satisfaction rates among patients.

The next step in the treatment and management of chronic low back pain
is to recognize it as a condition similar to high blood pressure or
diabetes and realize that with some degree of periodic chiropractic
maintenance or supportive care we can effectively help patients with
ongoing chronic lower back pain.