Today, we are all hardwired into a healthcare model where everybody seeks for a “quick fix.” Have headaches? Take a Panadol. Have low back pain and muscle spasms? Take muscle relaxants. Too busy to cook a healthy meal? Take multivitamin pills. Chiropractic is everything the opposite. Chiropractic is a natural means of obtaining true health and it takes effort, time and commitment. Chiropractic aims for something greater than artificially masking the superficial symptoms. Read on to find out how chiropractic outshines everything else, in terms of both health and pain relief. 

 

Chiropractic delivers unparalleled results in pain relief

Back pain is one of the most common reasons for missed work and loss of productivity among employees. In fact, back pain is the second most common reason for visit to the doctor’s office, outnumbered only by upper respiratory infections.

The actual costs of back pain are very hard to estimate due to various factors, but the cost to the employers in missed work days, and, by extension, the loss of employee productivity are estimated to be anywhere between $50 billion per year (American Chiropractic Association), to $86 billion per year (WebMD), to more than $200 billion dollars per year (American Academy of Orthopaedic Surgeons). 

Naturally, there are many modalities out there that can help you manage low back pain. So what’s your best option? Have a look at the research below:

·        In an extensive review of literature by Manga, et al. 1993, it was concluded that chiropractic management of low back pain is superior to allopathic medical management in terms of greater safety, greater effectiveness and reduced cost.

·        In a randomized trial involving 741 patients, Meade et al showed, “Chiropractic treatment was more effective than hospital outpatient management, mainly for patients with chronic or severe back pain … The benefit of chiropractic treatment became more evident throughout the follow up period. Secondary outcome measures also showed that chiropractic was more beneficial.”

·        Researchers from Switzerland released a study in the Journal of Manual and Physiological Therapeutics comparing the effects of chiropractic adjustments to epidural nerve root injections (NRI) for 102 symptomatic, MRI-confirmed lumbar disc herniation patients. After one month, both groups experienced significant improvements. 76.5% of chiropractic patients declared to be “much better” where 62.7% of NRI patients said they were “better”. None of chiropractic patients received surgery, whereas three of the NRI patients eventually had to undergo surgery.

·        Goertz C, et al, reported in the journal Spine that, chiropractic care made a major difference: 73% of chiropractic patients had moderate to substantial (low back) pain relief, compared to just 17% of standard medical care patients. Chiropractic patients also had significantly lower disability scores.

Looking at the above studies make it a no-brainer that anyone who suffers from low back pain should consult a chiropractic doctor first. But what if I was to tell you that chiropractic does so much more than to alleviate pain and disability in musculoskeletal conditions? 

 

 

Chiropractic naturally lowers blood pressure

A special chiropractic adjustment can significantly lower blood pressure, a placebo-controlled study suggests:

“This procedure (chiropractic adjustment) has the effect of not one, but two blood-pressure medications given in combination,” study leader George Bakris, MD, tells WebMD. “And it seems to be adverse-event free. We saw no side effects and no problems,” adds Bakris, director of the University of Chicago hypertension center.

 

Chiropractic alleviates Headaches and Migraines

Below is an excerpt from the University of Maryland, Medical Center:

Several clinical trials indicate that spinal manipulation therapy may help treat migraine headaches. In one study of people with migraines, 22% of those who received chiropractic manipulation reported more than a 90% reduction of attacks. Also, 49% reported a significant reduction of the intensity of each migraine.

In another study, people with migraine headaches were randomly assigned to receive spinal manipulation, a daily medication (Elavil), or a combination of both. Spinal manipulation worked as well as Elavil in reducing migraines and had fewer side effects. Combining the two therapies didn't work any better.

In addition, researchers reviewed 9 studies that tested chiropractic for tension or migraine headaches and found that it worked as well as medications in preventing these headaches.

Note: They concluded that despite the positive results, not all studies were of best quality as the techniques employed by the doctors were varied. However this is not a valid criticism as all chiropractic techniques are proven to work and ALL techniques have one single purpose, which is to detect and remove vertebral subluxations.

 

Chiropractic is simply better

There are piles of case studies and anecdotal evidences that strongly convey the success stories of chiropractic. Some of the conditions range from sleeping disorders, irritable bowel syndromes, TMJ dysfunctions, whiplash, vertigo to autism, asthma and depression. A good friend and an ex-colleague of mine would always tell me, “Chiropractic is so powerful that it works 100% of the time”, and today, I live by his words. Here’s a link to my previous post: Why Chiropractic? See the results!, and you will soon realise why chiropractic care promises so much more than pain relief. But when we do deliver pain relief, we do it so much better than others.