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A meta-analysis of studies has found that spinal manipulation can have a modest effect on pain and mobility:
One of the most common reasons people go to the doctor is lower back pain, and one of the most common reasons doctors prescribe powerful, addictive narcotics is lower back pain. Now, new research published Tuesday in the Journal of the American Medical Association offers the latest evidence that spinal manipulation can offer a modestly effective alternative.
Researchers analyzed 26 studies involving more than 1,700 patients with lower back pain. The analysis found spinal manipulation can reduce lower back pain as measured by patients on a pain scale, like this one from zero to 10. Spinal manipulation, which is typically done by chiropractors and physical therapists, involves applying pressure and moving joints in the spine.
Patients undergoing spinal manipulation experienced a decline of 1 point in their pain rating, says Dr. Paul Shekelle, an internist with the West Los Angeles Veterans Affairs Medical Center and the Rand Corp. who headed the study. "So if it had been a 7 it would be a 6, or if it had been a 5 it would be a 4," Shekelle says. That's about the same amount of pain relief as from NSAIDs, over-the-counter nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory medication, such as ibuprofen.
The study also found spinal manipulation modestly improved function. On average, patients reported greater ease and comfort engaging in two day-to-day activities, such as finding they could walk more quickly, were having less difficulty turning over in bed or were sleeping more soundly.
Have you used "alternative" methods for back pain relief? Can I relieve two pain points by combining spinal manipulation with an NSAID? Is this just a way for the VA to reduce costs, or is it aimed at the war on opiates?
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Monday April 17 2017, @07:20PM
Chiropractic, combined with massage, yoga and tai chi worked for me.
I messed up my back in my early 20s while lifting a couple of servers that I should have not been trying to move on my own. I have herniation on 3 discs (L3/L4, L4/L5 and L5/S1). They are all herniated over 1cm and because of that, I was experiencing extreme sciatic pain, numbness in the leg, muscle spasms and cramping. Two different surgeons wanted to perform surgery to fuse the vertebrae and shave down the discs. It got to the point where the swelling and inflammation was so bad that I had to go under general anesthetic and have a cortisone shot to get everything calmed down. That was about 8 years ago.
Since then, I went through a fairly aggressive chiropractic regime of ~30 visits over 3 months. It started with twice weekly for the first month and then tapered down from there. Following that, I did (and still do) tai chi, qigong and more recently yoga. Between the physical practices and the occasional (once every two to three months) chiropractic visit, I am pain free and have a good range of motion. The body is an amazing organism and has a very real capacity to heal itself. While pain killers can be an effective short term treatment, they only treat the symptoms. In order to heal and have good health, you have to address the underlying cause. With back pain, the root cause is usually an injury that was not treated properly, combined with long term bad habits (sitting still for extended periods of time, combined with not moving / stretching enough).
While probably a bit too hippy dippy for this audience, there are also emotional / mental / psycho-physiological considerations as well. I found the book "Healing Back Pain" by John Sarno to be a good resource.
Keeping my back healthy requires discipline though. If I slack off on my exercises, or I push it too hard for too many days in a row and get very tired / warn out, the symptoms come back. It always starts with muscle spasms in the buttocks and stiffness / cramps in the calf. But getting rested and doing a couple of days of yoga / stretching / tai chi has always been enough to get things back under control.