Can Chiropractic Care Help People Who Are Not In Pain Have Less Days Of Pain Over The Year?

Researchers set out to answer this question and we’ll talk about the very impressive results below.

The latest study on maintenance care for low back health suggests receiving chiropractic care periodically can dramatically reduce the number of pain days a person experiences.

A recent study published in the journal PLOS One of 328 consecutive adults with ‘nonspecific‘ low back pain who improved with chiropractic care in 40 different chiropractic clinics between 2012-2016.

The researchers divided the people randomly into one of two groups for 1 year.

1. The 1st group received periodic chiropractic care without having pain.
2. The 2nd group returned to their chiropractor only when they experienced lower back pain.

The results?

• During the year, members of the 1st group, the maintenance care group, received chiropractic treatment an average of 6.7.
• The 2nd group on average sought care 4.8 times.
• The 1st group with an average of about 2 more visits over a year had an average of 12.8 fewer days of low back pain.
  

How important is 12.8 fewer days of low back pain every year?

We believe it’s well worth a few extra chiropractic treatments so that you can experience more pain free days that will certainly make you happier and very likely much more productive and able to enjoy life.

Beyond this though… The researchers were only using pain as a metric.

This is a little problematic because:

• Pain threshold varies considerably from person to person. Pain is often not the best indication of a problem.
• Pain changes our nervous system and our brain. Chronic pain has been associated with losses of brain mass.
• Pain changes our mood. This is the emotional component of pain that takes a toll on our relationships and ability to enjoy life.
• Pain is a part of the sympathetic nervous system. Activation of this system shifts us towards the ‘fight or flight‘ side of activity that effects the autonomic nervous system. Increased sympathetic activity will have a likelihood of increasing blood pressure, heart rate, and reducing digestion among other things.
• Pain is a stressor. It has a very high probability of changing hormones including cortisol and other hormones.
• There is a reason for the pain which may indicate physical damage, ‘wear and tear,’ and other problems are occurring in addition to pain.
• In other words, many other things are occurring beyond pain. We just might not be aware of them yet.

Other studies have looked at chiropractic maintenance care for low back pain.

A study published in Spine, “Does Maintained Spinal Manipulation Therapy for Chronic Non-Specific Low Back Pain Result in Better Long-Term Outcome?”

• Patients suffering from chronic low back pain of 6 months or longer got 12 chiropractic treatments in 1 month.
• After which, they were randomized to receive either ‘maintenance’ chiropractic treatment once every two weeks for 9 months or no additional chiropractic care after the initial 12 visits only.
• After 10 months, the group receiving maintenance care reported significant improvement, while pain and disability scores had returned “near to their pre-treatment level” in the group not receiving any additional chiropractic treatment after the first month.

Early Intervention Is Always Best.

Waiting for significant symptoms to occur is never the best approach to health and wellness.

It’s better to be pro-active with your health and that includes seeing a chiropractor more often particularly if you have had any past problems as seen in these studies… or if you would just like to do what you can to avoid them to begin with!

If you need a Chiropractor in Texarkana, then we invite you to come see us at Hagebusch Chiropractic!

Dr. Hagebusch has helped thousand’s of Texarkana area residents recover from injuries and live healthier, pain free lives.

 

 

References

https://www.dynamicchiropractic.com/mpacms/dc/article_d.php

https://journals.plos.org/plosone/article?id=10.1371/journal.pone.0203029

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/21245790