Research Is Proving The Best Back Pain Solutions.

Research is proving a new treatment for back pain. This treatment for back pain has over 30 scientific studies and is published in Medical Journals. It has led to the conclusion that the average patient receiving this treatment is better off than 54-85% of the patients receiving other common and accepted back pain treatments.

What’s more, 14 of these studies showed this treatment costs less and were up to twice as effective. 17 studies showed a decrease in disability at work and less back pain symptoms. The worst part is that many of these studies were done in the 80’s! So what is this treatment and why haven’t you heard about it yet? Better yet, why isn’t this treatment plastered all over the front pages and headlining the nightly news? How could something this good and proven to be this good be kept out of the spotlight for so long?

The answer to these questions is simple. But first, you have to understand the real facts about back pain. The following are some shocking statistics about low back pain. First, eight to ninety percent of all adults will suffer from low back pain at some point in their life. Second, low back pain is the primary cause of disability in people under forty five years of age. Third, low back pain is the second leading cause of visits to the doctor. Forth, low back pain is the third leading reason for hospital admissions. Fifth, the annual cost of low back pain in the United States ranges from $20-$75 billion, and as much as one hundred billion dollars worldwide. The sixth is that according to the Met Life Insurance statistics, the average back treated medically without surgery costs $7,210, and the average back treated with surgery costs an astonishing $13,990. And finally the seventh statistic indicates that fifteen to twenty percent of the population has low back pain in any given year, approximately twenty three million cases.

So, here’s a question for you. Do all epidemics kill? The answer is no, and it’s a good thing they don’t. Because if they did, most of us would be dead from this back pain epidemic.

It is important to understand the common treatments and the facts about how good they really are. First of all are anti-inflammatory drugs. They are also referred to as NSAIDs. Some examples of these drugs are Tylenol, Motrin, Aleve and Advil. They are often the first taken and most common treatment for low back pain. Two well respected medical doctors had a lot to say about these drugs.

Dr. Julian Whitaker, M.D. said, “In our attempt to escape the throbbing of an occasional headache, the muscular ache of being a “weekend warrior,” or back and neck pain, Americans spend over $6.6 billion each year on prescription and over-the-counter pain relievers. But we do so at tremendous cost to our health. These drugs can damage the stomach, liver, kidneys, and even some of the tissues they are designed to support. Aspirin, Ibuprofen, and other NSAID’s which are sometimes taken on a daily basis by arthritis sufferers, actually hasten degeneration of the joint by inhibiting cartilage synthesis and accelerating cartilage destruction.”

Another doctor known as Dr. Joseph Mercola, M.D. in the Department of Health Policy and Management of John’s Hopkins School of Hygiene and Public Health said that researchers say aspirin and related drugs kill almost as many people every year as the disease AIDS and are responsible for a silent epidemic. About twenty six billion over the counter pills are consumed each year and the number of deaths caused by medicine is large. Some research estimates that approximately sixteen and a half thousand deaths occur annually in the United States from ulcer related complications associated with their use. If those deaths were given their own category, the toxic effects of non steroidal anti inflammatory drugs would amount to the 15th most common cause of death in the United States. Non steroidal anti inflammatory drugs are probably the most dangerous drugs that medicine uses because of their widespread use. As a group, it is likely that they account for the largest amount of deaths of any drug group. The bottom line about NSAID drugs is that they kill sixteen and a half thousand people every year and damage the joints they are supposed to treat.

The next treatment is surgery. I’m just going to give you ONE statistic about surgery. Why only one? After you read it, you will know. According to the official Clinical Practice Guidelines put out by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, “surgery has been found to be helpful in only 1 in 100 cases of low back problems. Even having a lot of back pain does not, by itself, mean you need surgery.”

If only one percent of back problems are helped with surgery, is it really worth the risk associated with it. Some the risks are infection, paralysis or even death. This is something that needs to be seriously considered.

OK, enough with the bad news already! What have all those studies I talked about shown to be the best, safest and least expensive treatment for back pain? Since you might not believe it coming from me, I’m going to give you one more quote. This one is from Pran Manga, PhD, medical economist from Ontario Ministry of Health who studied this subject extensively. Here’s what he concluded. “There is an overwhelming body of evidence indicating that Chiropractic management of low back pain is more cost-effective than medical management. Chiropractic management is greatly superior to medical management in terms of scientific validity, safety, cost-effectiveness and patient satisfaction.”

These are the statistics and quotes from some very prominent figures. The only problem is that Dr. Manga published his findings back in 1993 and many people have not heard this before. The reason that many have not heard it before is profit.

To review the statistics again, you’ll discover that the average medical non-surgical back costs a little over seven thousand dollars in treatment. On the other hand, the average surgical back costs almost fourteen thousand dollars in treatment. It is also important to understand that $6.6 billion is being spent every year on medication. These are the real astounding facts. I’m sure you also realize whose commercials pay for the news you watch every night anyway and controls what is revealed to the public.

So next time you have an aching back, sore neck, or headache, here’s something for you to remember. Try chiropractic first, drugs second, and surgery last!

Learn more about chiropractic. Read more articles by Dr. Pritsker and the chiropractors at New Century Spine Centers where you can find out all about alternative medicine and what it can do for you.