August 19, 2024
In our Midland, Odessa practice, we see many patients who are struggling with back pain, and a few of these folks have been informed they might need surgery to recover. Fortunately, Permian Basin Accident & Injury Centers has helped many people get relief without the need for any type of surgery. The scientific literature confirms the results we see in our practice. One research study published in the journal Spine found that seeing a chiropractor as your first move in overcoming with your back problems may literally keep you out of the operating room.
In this research study, medical researchers from Dartmouth analyzed data from about 1,900 workers from the state of Washington who first saw either an orthopedic surgeon or a chiropractor for their low back issues. They then examined three years' worth of follow-up medical information to determine whether the patients ended up having back surgery in an attempt to correct the problem.
What the authors discovered was that about 43% of the individuals who first consulted with a surgeon for their back issues ended up with surgery in that 3-year time span, 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. Seeing a chiropractor drastically decreases your odds of having back surgery, plus the chiropractic patients in this study "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 printed in the world's most prestigious medical journal on spinal injuries.
Any surgical procedure has risks, but a major problem associated with spinal surgery is that there is a very high failure rate. 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%."
"It is extremely difficult to identify unequivocal predictor factors that can be used to accurately predict the outcome of surgery."
As a chiropractor, Permian Basin Accident & Injury Centers is convinced that surgery should be the absolute last resort 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 studies have demonstrated the usefulness of chiropractic for back pain.
If you live in Midland, Odessa and you need relief for your back pain, give our office a call today at (432) 262-3219 for a consultation or an appointment. We'll help get you back on the road to a pain-free life!
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