Chiropractic Treatment Is a Natural Alternative to Back Surgery

Chiropractic vs Back Surgery in Depew

In our Depew chiropractic clinic, we see a large number of patients who are suffering from back pain, and a few of these patients have been advised they might need surgery to recover. Thankfully, Dr. Palmer has helped many people get pain relief without the need for any type of operation. The science confirms the success we see in our office. One study published in the medical journal Spine found that seeing a chiropractor as your first step in overcoming with your back problems may literally keep you out of the operating room.

In this scientific study, medical researchers from Dartmouth reviewed statistics from about 1,900 workers from the state of Washington who first saw either a surgeon or a chiropractor for their low back issues. They then used three years' worth of follow-up medical records to ascertain whether the patients ended up having back surgery in an attempt to correct the issue.

What the researchers observed was that about 43% of the men and women who first saw a surgeon for their back pain ended up with surgery 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 impressive outcomes. Consulting with a chiropractor dramatically decreases your odds of having 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 consider this important point: this study was performed by orthopedic surgeons from Dartmouth College, and published in the world's most prestigious medical publication on spinal injury.

Why You Should Avoid Surgery

Any surgery has risks, but a serious problem linked to spine surgery is that there is 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 authors of 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. Palmer is convinced that surgery should be the absolute last choice for treating back pain. Chiropractic works to restore your spine to its normal function--without risky surgery or drugs--and many studies have demonstrated the efficacy of chiropractic for back pain.

If you live in Depew and you need relief for your back pain, give our office a call today at (716) 668-2225 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.