30 different Doctors of Chiropractic, each with 20 or more cases of low back pain or sciatica, reported on their results using chiropractic care for the patient’s problem. The results were quite positive and strongly suggest that chiropractic care should be the first choice for relief of low back pain and sciatica.
- 78.1% had favorable results with their response fair to excellent.
- Less than 4% of the patients were actual candidates for surgery.
- Less than 9% of the patients reached the chronic stage of care.
- The average number of treatments to max improvement was 12.
- The average number of days to maximum improvement was 29.
The various conditions that were treated include discogenic pain, disc protrusion, L-5 transitional segments, lumbar sprain/strain, facet syndrome, and spondylolisthesis. The most responsive to care was the lumbar sprain/strain and the slowest to respond was the spondylolisthesis and disc protrusion.
Response to Care was Defined as:
EXCELLENT: 90% or more relief, return to work with no further care
VERY GOOD: 75-90% relief, return to work, no need for further care
GOOD: 50% relief, return to work but needed supportive care to maintain relief
FAIR: Less than 50% relief, need to change jobs
POOR: Less than 50% relief, need to avoid physical labor
SURGERY
STOPPED OR NOT STARTED CARE: Reasons unknown
EXAMINED, BUT NOT TREATED: Not candidates for care.
The study used Cox Disc Decompression technique. This is a specialized chiropractic technique that we use in our office. At Bobb Chiropractic Center we primarily use traditional Palmer College of Chiropractic adjusting techniques in addition to the disc decompression as we find that our results equal or exceed those of the study.
For any more information or to see if we can help you with your problem please do not hesitate to contact us at (309) 755-5203.
Reference: Cox J M, Feller J, Cox-Cid J. Distraction Chiropractic Adjusting: Clinical Application and Outcomes of 1,000 Cases. Topics in Clinical Chiropractic, Volume 3 Issue 3, 1996
