Oh, my aching back! is a common refrain at the doctor's office. But are the equally common conventional interventions for low-back pain--heavy duty drugs, injections and surgery--providing the expected relief?
Not according to a recent study in the Journal of the American Board of Family Medicine. The study noted that, in the US, Medicare expenditures for epidural steroid injections have increased 629 percent; opioid drugs, 423 percent; MRI scans, 307 percent; and spinal fusion surgery rates, 220 percent. What have not risen alongside these increases, however, are improvements in patient outcomes or disability rates.
"Despite this exuberant increase in tests, injections, strong drugs and surgeries, there is no proof that back pain occurs more often today than it did 10 years ago, nor that back pain sufferers are better after all these interventions," noted Angela Mailis-Gagnon, MD, MSc, FRCPC (PhysMed), director of the Comprehensive Pain Program at Toronto Western Hospital (drangelamailis.com) in a recent article.
If you have back pain, visit the HANS Wellness Directory at www.hans.org to find a chiropractor near you. Many clinical studies, including randomized controlled trials assessing the effectiveness and/or cost-effectiveness of spinal manipulation, have found chiropractic to be a valid treatment for back pain.
For more information on chiropractic, including chiropractic research, visit the BC Chiropractic Association at www.bcchiro.com or call (604) 270-1332.