Chiropractic Care and Lower Back Pain Guide |
Lower back pain is among the
most common pain complaints for which patients visit their physician and
chiropractitioner. It is the most common cause of work days missed because
of disability related pain. On average up to 16% of the adult population
have serious chronic back pain conditions, and about the same percentage
suffer less severe back pain that is still significant enough to interfere
with daily work or routine. Such findings of the incidence of chronic back
pain have generally been replicated in investigations in other Western
countries such as Sweden and Denmark. Low back pain is the major cause
of morbidity and disability in people between the ages of 18 and 44, the
most active, productive years.
Occasional episodes of lower back pain are very common. Estimates of lifetime
prevalence for sufferers range from 60% to 90%. The vast majority of these
episodes are time-limited with 80-90% being resolved within 6 weeks. Although
some individuals report recurring episodes of low back pain , most do not
bother to seek medical treatment or advice. Research studies indicate that
a small percentage of all individuals who suffer from occasional lower back
pain develop chronic, persistent back pain. |
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Diagnosis of Low Back Pain |
| Diagnosis of low back pain has perplexed physicians because
of the difficulty in arriving at the definitive diagnosis. Numerous diagnostic
terms are found in the literature such as lumbar sprain or lumbar strain,
lumbago, sciatica, diskal hernia, diskopathy, facet syndrome, lumbar myositis,
ligamentitis, dysfunction of the intervertrbral joint, fibrositis, articular
hypomobility and hyperpormobility. Some of these labels assume the presence
of structural problems involving the spine, whereas others assume that
the source of pain is found in the soft tissues (i.e. muscles, fascia and
ligaments). |
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Medical and Surgical
Treatment |
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Numerous treatment approaches have been used
for low back pain including those that compromise the following list: chiropractic,
osteopathy, acupuncture, back schools, bed rest, biofeedback, manipulation,
massage, medication, spinal support, yoga, stretching exercises etc. Considerable
attention has been given to surgical interventions, since they often appear
to be the most direct means of correcting the presumed cause of back pain.
Although surgery may be necessary for cases of acute low back pain when
certain neurological findings are present, it is often unsuccessful among
those who have suffered lower back pain for any length of time. In fact,
as opposed to chiropractic and osteopathy, which have a large success rate,
it has been suggested that successful disk surgery applies to only about
1% of patients with low back disorders. |
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