Spinal Manipulation - It's Just What the (Medical) Doctor Orders
Your spinal health professionals here in Hackettstown, NJ wish to share with you some statistics derived from The American College of Physicians, the 2017 Journal of the American Medical Association (and others) about the benefits of chiropractic spinal manipulation. While none of these findings are news to those of us who deliver chiropractic care services, the general population likely will find these facts both informative and surprising:
- In 2017, the American College of Physicians released updated low back pain guidelines that recommend first using non-drug treatments, such as spinal manipulation, for acute and chronic low back pain.
- Similarly, a study published in the Journal of the American Medical Association in 2017 supports the use of spinal manipulative therapy as a first line treatment for acute low back pain. 95% of past-year chiropractic users say it's effective, and 97% of past-year chiropractic users are likely to see a chiropractor if they have neck/back pain.
- In a consumer survey, chiropractic outperformed all other back pain treatments, including prescription medication, deep-tissue massage, yoga, pilates, and over-the-counter medication therapies.
- Chiropractors are the highest rated healthcare practitioner for low-back pain treatments above physical therapists (PTs), specialist physician/MD (i.e., neurosurgeons, neurologists, orthopaedic surgeons), and primary care physician/MD (i.e., family or internal medicine).
- With prescription pain drug abuse now classified as an epidemic17 in the United States and the number of spinal fusions soaring 500% over the last decade,18 the essential services provided by chiropractors represent a primary care approach for the prevention, diagnosis and conservative management of back pain and spinal disorders that can often enable patients to reduce or avoid the need for these riskier treatments.
- Chiropractors' collaborative, whole person-centered approach reflects the changing realities of health care delivery and fits well into Accountable Care Organization (ACO) and patient-centered, medical home (PCMH) models bringing greater clinical efficiency, patient satisfaction and cost savings.
- In 2015, the Joint Commission, the organization that accredits more than 20,000 health care systems in the U.S. (including every major hospital), recognized the value of non-drug approaches by adding chiropractic to its pain management standard.
While none of these findings are news to us, we no longer are surprised to find that that the general public (and in fact some of our new patients) find these facts to be surprisingly revealing. We take great reward in both educating and treating you with a host of spinal manipulative techniques that prove time and time again to return our patients to a true pain free quality of life.
Call or contact us today to discuss any of the findings discussed above or to schedule your initial consult with Dr. James and the caring staff here at Village Family Clinic!
