Chiropractic had the highest perceived benefit for back pain

A study published in the Journal of the American Board of Family Medicine reports on interviews with 31,044 individuals who used complementary and alternative medicine (CAM) for low back pain (LBP). The results are as follows:

The top 6 CAM therapies for LBP, starting with the most-used approaches are: chiropractic, massage, herbal therapy, acupuncture, yoga/tai chi/qi gong, and relaxation techniques.

Chiropractic use (76% of respondents) was larger than all the other 5 therapies combined.

Of those who used CAM modalities for back pain, 27% used it because conventional medicine did not help, 53% used it in conjunction with medical care, and 24% used it because their medical provider recommended it.

Chiropractic users scored the highest on their satisfaction and clinical benefits out of all 6 approaches. This reconfirms earlier findings from the Archives of Physical Medicine & Rehabilitation 2005, which reported that spinal manupulative therapy (SMT) provided the greatest pain relief scoring higher than nerve blocks, opioid analgesics, muscle relaxants, acupuncture, or NSAIDs.

Reference: Kanodia AK, Legedza ATR, Davis RB, et al. Perceived benefit of complementary and alternative medicine (CAM) for back pain: a national survey. J Am Board Fam Med. 2010;23(3):354–362.

Dr. David Chen
Chiropractor in Laurel, MD
Laurel Regional Chiropractic

Chiropractic usage by intercollegiate athletes

It's estimated that more than one-third of the American public uses the services of doctors of chiropractic and other complementary and alternative medicine (CAM) providers each year. Among those who take full advantage of CAM's benefits are professional athletes; in fact, many pro sports teams now have chiropractors and other CAM providers as part of their medical or training staff. A new study shows that chiropractic and other types of CAM are extremely popular among athletes on the college level as well.

In this study, researchers gave a survey to more than 300 college athletes attending a Division I school in Hawaii. The survey asked the athletes about their use of different types of CAM in the previous year, along with their use of traditional medical care. Fifty-six percent of the athletes reported using some type of CAM within the past 12 months, with more women using CAM than men. Chiropractic was the second most popular form of CAM, just behind massage; 29 percent of the athletes said they had used chiropractic at least once in the past year.

While considerable evidence suggests chiropractic can improve the performance of elite athletes, there's just as much evidence which shows chiropractic care is effective for a variety of everyday problems, too. Back pain, neck pain and migraine headaches are just a few of the many conditions that can be treated by a well-trained doctor of chiropractic.

Source: Nichols AW, Harrigan R. Complementary and alternative medicine usage by intercollegiate athletes. Clinical Journal of Sport Medicine May 2006;16(3):232-7.

Dr. David Chen
Chiropractor in Laurel, MD
Laurel Regional Chiropractic