States (US) and a very common reason for lost days at work
with an estimated 149
million days of work lost per year. The total cost
associated with this is
astronomical at between $100-200 billion/yr, of which 2/3rds
are due to
decreased wages and productivity. More than 80% of the
population will have an
episode of LBP at some point in their lifetime. The good
news is that 95%
recover within two to three months of onset. However, some
never recover which
leads to chronic LBP (LBP > 3 months), and 20-44% will
have a recurrence of LBP
within one year with lifetime recurrences of up to 85%! What
this means is that
most of us have, have had, or will have LBP, and we’ll get
it again! So the
question is, what are we going to do about it?
Surgery has traditionally been considered a “last resort”
with less invasive
approaches recommended first. Chiropractic adjustments and
management strategies
have traditionally faired very well when compared to other
non-surgical methods
like physical therapy, acupuncture, and massage therapy.
But, is there evidence
that by receiving chiropractic treatment, low back surgery
can be avoided? Let’s
take a look!
A recent study was designed to determine whether or not we
could predict those
who would require low back surgery within three years of a
job-related back
injury. This is a very important study as back injuries are
the most common
occupational injury in the US, and few studies have
investigated what, if any,
early predictors of future spine surgery after work-related
injury exist. The
study reviewed cases of 1,885 Washington state workers, of
which 174 or 9.2% had
low back surgery within three years. The initial predictors
of surgery included
high disability scores on questionnaires, greater injury
severity, and seeing a
surgeon as the first provider after the injury. Reduced odds
of having surgery
included: 1) <35 years old; 2) Females; 3) Hispanics; and
4) those who FIRST saw
a chiropractor. Approximately 43% of workers who first saw a
surgeon had surgery
compared to ONLY 1.5% of those who first saw a chiropractor!
WOW!!! This study
supports the FACT that IF a low back injured worker first
sees a chiropractor
vs. a surgeon, the likelihood of needing surgery in the
three years after the
injury would be DRAMATICALLY reduced! In fact, the strongest
predictor of
whether an injured worker would undergo surgery was found to
be related to who
they saw first after the injury: a surgeon or a
chiropractor.
If this isn’t enough evidence, another recent study
(University of British
Columbia) looked at the safety of spine surgery and reported
that (taken from a
group of 942 LBP surgical patients): 1) 87% had at least one
documented
complication; 2) 39% of the 87% had to stay longer in the
hospital as a result;
3) 10.5% had a complication during the surgery; 4) 73.5% had
a post-surgical
complication (which included: 8% delirium, 7% pneumonia, 5%
nerve pain, 4.5% had
difficulty swallowing, 3% nerve deterioration, 13.5% wound
complication); 5) 14
people died as a surgical complication. Another study showed
lower annual
healthcare costs for those receiving chiropractic vs. those
who did not. The
“take-home” message is clear: TRY CHIROPRACTIC FIRST!!!
We realize you have a choice in who you choose to provide
your healthcare
services. If you, a
friend or family member requires care for low back pain, we
sincerely appreciate the trust and confidence shown by
choosing our services and
look forward in serving you and your family both presently
and in the future. Visit
www.olsonchiropracticcenter.com for more information.
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