Chiropractic Manipulation or Pain Medication for Low Back Pain

So you just pulled your back out now what? Some will reach for the pain pills, some will go lay down, but our patients will grab the phone and call Revive Chiropractic in Pottsville, PA at (570) 621-4390. But, why?

An April 2013 study, Spinal High-Velocity Low Amplitude Manipulation in Acute Nonspecific Low Back Pain: A Double-Blinded Randomized Controlled Trial in Comparison With Diclofenac and Placebo, compared the effectiveness of three therapies on low back pain that has occurred within the past48 hours. The authors split 93 patients into three groups: spinal manipulation (with placebo pain medication), pain medication (with placebo spinal manipulation), and both placebo pain medication and placebo spinal manipulation. The pain medication used was 50mg 3x/dayof diclofenac, a medication shown to be more effective than ibuprofen at managing low back pain.

The results after 12 weeks suggested two things. The spinal manipulation and diclofenac groups were more effective at pain control than the placebo group. The placebo group was actually closed prior to the end of the study due to the large drop out from uncontrolled pain. Additionally, the spinal manipulation group experienced significantly better outcomes than the diclofenac group. Let me repeat that: spinal manipulation lead to significantly better outcomes than NSAIDs.

If you are experiencing acute or chronic low back pain and are in the Pottsville area of Schuylkill County, schedule an appointment at Revive Chiropractic today!

Source:
Chiropractic Manipulation or Medication for Low Back Pain? https://www.spine-health.com/blog/chiropractic-manipulation-or-medication-low-back-pain. Walsh, 2013.