Chiropractic Helps People Avoid Back Surgery

In our Stacy office, we see many patients who are suffering from back pain, and some of these people have been informed they might need surgery to recover. Thankfully, Dr. Ulvin has helped many people get relief without the need for any type of operation. The scientific research confirms the results we see in our office. One research study published in the academic journal Spine found that consulting with a chiropractor as your first step in dealing with your back issues may literally keep you off of the operating table.

In this study, medical professionals from Dartmouth analyzed data from about 1,900 workers from the state of Washington who first saw either a surgeon or a chiropractic doctor for their back-related issues. They then examined three years' worth of follow-up medical information to ascertain whether the individuals ended up having back surgery in an effort to treat the problem.

What the authors observed was that 42.7% of the individuals who first consulted with a surgeon for their back issues ended up having a surgical procedure in that 3-year time frame, whereas only 1.5% of those who first saw 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 outcomes. Visiting a chiropractor considerably decreases your odds of getting back surgery, plus the chiropractic patients in this report "had lower odds of chronic work disability" and they also had fewer expensive MRI tests.

Let's also keep in mind this important point: this study was performed by orthopedic surgeons from Dartmouth College, and published in the world's most influential medical publication on spinal injury.

Why You Should Avoid Surgery

Any surgery has risks, but a major problem related to spine surgery is that there's 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 experts in 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, Dr. Ulvin believes 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 scientific studies have documented the usefulness of chiropractic for back pain.

If you live in Stacy and you need care for your back pain, give our practice a call today at (651) 462-3243 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.