Chiropractic Helps People Avoid Back Surgery

In our Livermore office, we see a large number of patients who are dealing with back pain, and a few of these folks have been advised they might need surgery to recover. Thankfully, Haque Chiropractic Inc. has helped many people get pain relief without the need for any type of surgery. The scientific research agrees with the results we see in our practice. One research study published in the medical journal Spine found that seeing a chiropractor as your first step in overcoming with your back issues may literally keep you off of the operating table.

In this scientific study, medical experts from Dartmouth reviewed statistics from about 1,900 workers from the state of Washington who first saw either an orthopedic surgeon or a chiropractor for their back pain issues. They then used three years' worth of follow-up medical information to ascertain whether the patients wound up having back surgery in an effort to correct the issue.

What the researchers found was that 42.7% of the people who first consulted with a surgeon for their back problems ended up having a surgical procedure in that 3-year time frame, whereas only 1.5 percent of those who first consulted with a chiropractor had the same fate. The authors wrote:

"Even after controlling for injury severity and other measures, workers with an initial visit for the injury to a surgeon had almost nine times the odds of receiving lumbar spine surgery compared to those seeing primary care providers, whereas workers whose first visit was to a chiropractor had significantly lower odds of surgery."

These are remarkable results. Seeing a chiropractor considerably decreases your odds of getting back surgery, plus the chiropractic patients in this study "had lower odds of chronic work disability" and they also had fewer expensive MRI tests.

Let's also take note this important detail: this study was performed by orthopedic surgeons from Dartmouth College, and published in the world's most influential medical publication on spinal injuries.

The Risks of Surgery

Any surgical procedure has risks, but a serious downside related to spinal surgery is that there is a very high rate of failure. In an important review in the European Spine Journal, researchers wrote:

"Failed back surgery is a problem that has become sufficiently widespread to even warrant its own special conferences, with recent reviews reporting failure rates ranging from 5 to 50%."

The authors of this same study concluded:

"It is extremely difficult to identify unequivocal predictor factors that can be used to accurately predict the outcome of surgery."

As a chiropractor, Haque Chiropractic Inc. is convinced that surgery should be the absolute last choice for treating back pain. Chiropractic care works to restore your spine to its normal function--without the need of risky surgery or drugs--and many studies have established the effectiveness of chiropractic for back pain.

If you live in Livermore and you need relief for your back pain, give our practice a call today at (925) 960-1960 for a consultation or an appointment. We'll help get you back on the road to a pain-free life!

Studies

• Keeney BJ, Fulton-Kehoe D, Turner JA, Wickizer TM, Chan KC, Franklin GM. Early predictors of lumbar spine surgery after occupational back injury: results from a prospective study of workers in Washington State. Spine 2013;38(11):953-964.
• Mannion AF, Elfering A. Predictors of surgical outcome and their assessment. European Spine Journal 2006;15(Suppl 1):S93-S108.