In our Jacksonville practice, we see many patients who are troubled with back pain, and some of these folks have been informed they might need surgery to recover. Fortunately, Dr. Chanatry has helped many people get relief without the need for any type of surgical treatment. The science confirms the success we see in our practice. One study published in the medical journal Spine found that consulting with a chiropractor as your first step in dealing with your back problems may actually keep you off of the operating table.
In this report, medical professionals from Dartmouth analyzed statistics from 1,885 workers from the state of Washington who first saw either a surgeon or a chiropractic doctor for their back pain issues. They then used three years' worth of follow-up medical data to find out whether the subjects wound up having back surgery in an effort to correct the issue.
What the authors found was that about 43% of the men and women who first saw a surgeon for their back issues ended up with surgery in that 3-year time frame, whereas only 1.5% of those who first consulted with 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. Consulting with a chiropractor significantly 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 take into consideration this important point: this study was carried out by orthopedic surgeons from Dartmouth College, and published in the world's most distinguished medical journal on spinal injuries.
Surgery: The Last Resort
Any surgical procedure has risks, but a major downside associated with spine surgery is that there is a very high failure rate. In an important analysis 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. Chanatry 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 high-risk surgery or drugs--and many scientific studies have confirmed the effectiveness of chiropractic for back pain.
If you live in Jacksonville and you need care for your back pain, give our practice a call today at (904) 743-6700 for a consultation or an appointment. We'll help get you back on the road to a pain-free life!
Studies
Dr. Chanatry
Dr. Mike C. Chanatry works with Dr. David K. Rouse providing quality chiropractic care to patients in Jacksonville, FL. If you suffer from back pain, neck pain, arm or leg pain, headache, TMJ, sciatica, or have been involved in an auto accident, our Clinic is located directly across from Jacksonville University on University Blvd N. The physicians at Chanatry Chiropractic can improve your health.