Chiropractic care is the key to optimum perfomance

Green Bay Packers quarterback Aaron Rodgers and fitness pioneer Jack Lalanne are huge advocates for chiropractic care. Actually, Aaron Rodgers' father is a chiropractor in Chico, California and Jack Lalanne was a Doctor of Chiropractic himself.

Aaron Rodgers is not the only NFL player or athlete who believes in the benefit of chiropractic care. New Orleans Saints 2006 first round pick, Reggie Bush, has been receiving regular chiropractic care since playing football in high school and his collegiate years. "I look at Chiropractic care as important to keeping me healthy and at the top of my game." 2010 Hall Of Fame inductee Jerry Rice, who is a spokesperson for the Foundation for Chiropractic Progress, a non-profit organization dedicated to educating the public of the many benefits associated with chiropractic care. "I did a lot of things to stay in the game, but regular visits to my chiropractor made all of the difference", Jerry Rice says. Some of the elite athletes, Lance Armstrong, Tiger Woods, Emmitt Smith, Tom Brady, and Michael Jordan just to name a few, have all benefited from chiropractic care to help them to stay on top of their game. All 32 teams in the NFL have either one or several chiropractors on staff. The need for chiropractic care in the NFL has been driven by the players' desire for optimum performance, and not just for treating injuries.

The good news is that you don't have to be a professional athlete to receive chiropractic care, but you do have to want to make an investment in your health and want to create a healthier lifestyle. It doesn't matter if you have extreme pain or no pain at all, chiropractic allows you to live life to the fullest.

Dr. David P. Chen
Chiropractor in Laurel, MD 20708

Spinal Manipulation Therapy for Acute Low Back Pain

The October 2010 issue of The Spine Journal includes a new review of the scientific evidence supporting spinal manipulative therapy (SMT) for low back pain (LBP). The results were quite favorable and reflect a growing body of evidence supporting SMT over medications and other conservative options. SMT research demonstrates “equivalent or superior improvement in pain and function when compared with other commonly used interventions, such as physical modalities, medication, education, or exercise, for short, intermediate, and long-term follow-up.” The authors conclude by recommending that other health care providers consider SMT as a viable option if self care or education fails to provide pain relief.

METHODS: Literature was identified by searching MEDLINE using indexed and free text terms. Studies were included if they were randomized controlled trials (RCTs) published in English, and SMT was administered to a group of patients with LBP of less than 3 months. RCTs included in two previous SRs were also screened, as were reference lists of included studies. Combined search results were screened for relevance by two reviewers. Data related to methods, risk of bias, harms, and results were abstracted independently by two reviewers.

RESULTS: The MEDLINE search returned 699 studies, of which six were included; an additional eight studies were identified from two previous SRs. There were 2,027 participants in the 14 included RCTs, which combined SMT with education (n=5), mobilization (MOB) (n=4), exercise (n=3), modalities (n=3), or medication (n=2). The groups that received SMT were most commonly compared with those receiving physical modalities (n=7), education (n=6), medication (n=5), exercise (n=5), MOB (n=3), or sham SMT (n=2). Most studies (n=6) administered 5 to 10 sessions of SMT over 2 to 4 weeks for acute LBP. Outcomes measured included pain (n=10), function (n=10), health-care utilization (n=6), and global effect (n=5). Studies had a follow-up of less than 1 month (n=7), 3 months (n=1), 6 months (n=3), 1 year (n=2), or 2 years (n=1). When compared with various control groups, results for improvement in pain in the SMT groups were superior in three RCTs and equivalent in three RCTs in the short term, equivalent in four RCTs in the intermediate term, and equivalent in two RCTs in the long term. For improvement in function, results from the SMT groups were superior in one RCT and equivalent in four RCTs in the short term, superior in one RCT and equivalent in one RCT in the intermediate term, and equivalent in one RCT and inferior in one RCT in the long term. No harms related to SMT were reported in these RCTs.

CONCLUSIONS: Several RCTs have been conducted to assess the efficacy of SMT for acute LBP using various methods. Results from most studies suggest that 5 to 10 sessions of SMT administered over 2 to 4 weeks achieve equivalent or superior improvement in pain and function when compared with other commonly used interventions, such as physical modalities, medication, education, or exercise, for short, intermediate, and long-term follow-up.

Reference: Dagenais, S; Gay, RE; Tricco, AC; Freeman, MD; Mayer, JM (2010). "NASS Contemporary Concepts in Spine Care: spinal manipulation therapy for acute low back pain.". The spine journal. 10 (10): 918–40.

Dr. David P. Chen
Chiropractor in Laurel, MD 20708