Dallas Chiropractor Best Practices
Research Commentary;
Best Treatment for Low Back Pain
Comparison of Spinal Manipulation Methods and Usual Medical Care for Acute and Subacute Low Back Pain
A Randomized Clinical Trial
Michael Schneider, DC, PhD, Mitchell Haas, DC, MA, Ronald Glick, MD, Joel Stevans, DC, and Doug Landsittel, PhD
Research Reviewed by Dr. Travis Downs
Summarized Review Conclusions
We all know that one person, in fact it’s probably many people that deal with low back pain on a daily basis. Most of those people take over the counter medications and just try to tough it out. This is because they have been to a medical doctor and what they prescribed didn’t work and they don’t know what else to do. This research once again shows that the best care for low back pain is from the manual thrust manipulation (MTM) that a chiropractor performs over usual medical care (UMC). When research involving chiropractic adjustments are done correctly the adjustment will always come out on top because of Hilton’s Law. If you put the proper motion into a joint it’s going to decrease the inflammation and pain is going to start to go away. Below you will find direct quotes of the referenced article along with my synopses of the research query, methodology and findings including references used by the research authors.
- “Significantly more patients in the manual-thrust manipulation group achieved moderate (≥30%) or substantial (≥50%) reductions in self-reported disability and pain scores at 4 weeks.”
- “These results contradict prior assumptions of therapeutic equivalence between manual thrust and mechanical-assisted types of manipulation.
- “Manipulation is an effective treatment for short- term relief of acute and subacute LBP.”
Introduction to the Research
This research shows that the manual adjustment is better than the one click assisted adjustment and usual medical care. This is just one of many articles that has proven this time and time again. For anyone with low back pain chiropractic is the way to go. The interesting thing about this article is that when they did the follow ups with the patients in the study at 3 and 6 months, they were all about the same. This is not surprising because we know about Hilton’s Law and if you stop moving the joints properly then the pain will start to come back. Once you are out of pain you must keep up your adjustments or pain will return.
Research Methodology
A total of 107 adults with onset of LBP within the past 12 weeks were randomized to 1 of 3 treatment groups: MTM, MAM, or UMC. Outcome measures included the Oswestry LBP Disability Index (0–100 scale) and numeric pain rating (0–10 scale). Participants in the manipulation groups were treated twice weekly during 4 weeks; subjects in UMC were seen for 3 visits during this time. Outcome measures were captured at baseline, 4 weeks, 3 months, and 6 months.
Research Findings
MTM led to greater short-term reductions in self-reported pain and disability than MAM or UMC. These changes were both statistically significant and clinically meaningful. The benefit seen at end-of-intervention was no longer statisti- cally significant at 3 or 6 months. No adverse outcomes were reported. MTM should be considered an effective short-term treatment option for patients with acute and subacute LBP. MAM and UMC seem similar in effect; both lead to decreased pain and disability, but their value compared with natural his- tory was not evaluated in this study.
Research References
As always with these reviews, these are my takeaways from the article and I encourage you to read the article in its entirety. The references used in this article by the authors of this article are listed here.
Our Message
Our Chiropractors in Dallas, located near the corner of Mockingbird Ln. and Abrams Rd., take a natural approach to getting rid of soreness caused by low back pain, neck pain, shoulder pain, etc. We know how important getting the right amount of nutrients and movement is to your health. Through Chiropractic adjustments and education, we teach our patients the best ways to relieve pain with Chiropractic and without medicine.