Back Pain Solutions | Health

The Australian Institute of Health and Welfare has calculated that 1.8 million Australians – almost 10% of the population – suffer back problems.

14 of the 16 International clinical guidelines for treatment of Lower Back Pain recommend chiropractic care
US Doctors recently recommended chiropractic care as a form of treatment for lower back pain in a 2013 issue of the Journal of the American Medical Association.
A 2011 study by independent consumer advocacy group Consumer Reports surveyed 45,000 people and found that 65% of patients who used chiropractic care for back or neck pain stated that it had ‘helped a lot’, outranking all other treatments included in the survey, including prescription medication.
A 2013 study found that chiropractic care in conjunction with standard medical care offers a significant advantage for reducing pain and improving physical function for men and women aged 18-35 with acute lower back pain.
In a study of people with new workers compensation claims for back injury in Washington State, researchers found that the type of health professional consulted first by patients had a huge impact on whether patients with back problems chose to have surgery. The researchers reported that 42.7% of workers with a back injury that saw a surgeon first had surgery, whereas only 1.5% of those who saw a chiropractor first had surgery.
Researchers from the American College of Physicians and the American Pain Society recommended spinal manipulation as a treatment for both acute and chronic back pain.
Spinal adjustments – also called spinal manipulation – are safe when performed by a licenced practitioner, according to the US Governments’ National Center for Complementary and Alternative Medicine. Numerous researchers have found that the incidence of severe complications following chiropractic care and manipulation is extremely low, with the perception of chiropractic being dangerous being totally untrue.

Source: http://www.caavic.asn.au/explore-chiro/fast-facts

What Can a Doctor of Chiropractic Do?

Your chiropractor may assist in many ways:

Perform gentle, spinal manipulation or chiropractic adjustments to improve spinal movement, relax muscles and alleviate the stress on your system.
Provide nutritional advice or recommend a change in diet and the use of supplements.
Offer advice on posture, ergonomics (work postures), exercises and relaxation techniques. This advice should help to relieve the recurring joint irritation and tension in the muscles of the neck and upper back that cause headaches.