Chiropractic Chronic Low Back Pain

Low back pain is a common condition that affects a large part of the population, not just limiting day to day functions, but impacting mental health and reducing overall quality of life (1). Do you or a loved one experience low back pain? This is an important article that could make the world of difference to you.
 
“Worldwide, Chronic low back pain affects around 23% of the population and recurs within 12 months in 24-80% of individuals” (2)
 
Mechanical low back pain occurs because of some form of repeated trauma to or overuse of the spine, discs in the spine and surrounding tissues. This can cause disc herniation, vertebral compression fractures, lumbar spondylosis, spondylolisthesis, and lumbosacral muscle strain (3). When low back pain is acute it is easier to manage, however when the low back pain becomes chronic it is much more difficult to deal with (4). Clinical factors associated with the transition of low back pain from acute to chronic include obesity, smoking, low back pain with leg pain, baseline disability and diagnosed depression/anxiety (5).
 
In a recent research literature, 217 older adult male veterans with chronic lower back pain were treated with chiropractic management, they analysed validated outcome measures after a short course of chiropractic care to assess the effectiveness. The numeric rating scale (NRS) and the Back Bournemouth Questionnaire (BBQ) were used as the outcome measures. The retrospective review revealed clinically and statistically significant improvements in both the NRS and BBQ scores for this sample of older adult male veterans, showing that chiropractic management was producing a positive outcome for them (6). Though more research is needed to further confirm these findings, the results so far are quite positive with chiropractic management for chronic low back pain.
 
If you want to find out if chiropractic may help manage low back pain for you or your loved ones, have a chat with one of our chiropractors to see how they can assist.
 
“Getting onto a condition earlier will significantly improve the outcome and recovery”
 
 
1.Froud R, Patterson S, Eldridge S, Seale C, Pincus T, Rajendran D, Fossum C, Underwood M. A systematic review and meta-synthesis of the impact of low back pain on people’s lives. BMC Musculoskeletal Disord. 2014;15:50.
2. Hoy D, Brooks P, Blyth F, Buchbinder R. The epidemiology of low back pain. Best Pract Res Clin Rheumatol. 2010;24(6):769–81.
3. Will J, Bury D, Miller JA. Mechanical low back pain: prevention. Am Fam Physician. 2018;98(7):421–8.
4. Korownyk  C, McCormack  J, Kolber  MR, Garrison  S, Allan  GM.  Competing demands and opportunities in primary care.   Can Fam Physician. 2017;63(9):664-668.
5. Stevans, J.M., Delitto, A., Khoja, S.S., Patterson, C.G., Smith, C.N., Schneider, M.J., Freburger, J.K., Greco, C.M., Freel, J.A., Sowa, G.A. and Wasan, A.D., 2021. Risk factors associated with transition from acute to chronic low back pain in US patients seeking primary care. JAMA network open, 4(2), pp.e2037371-e2037371.
6. Davis, B.A., Dunn, A.S., Golley, D.J. and Chicoine, D.R., 2022. Chiropractic Clinical Outcomes Among Older Adult Male Veterans With Chronic Lower Back Pain: A Retrospective Review of Quality-Assurance Data. Journal of Chiropractic Medicine.