When most people think of chiropractors, they think of back and neck pain. Many people do not know that chiropractors often do much more than this. Arguably, chiropractors can be considered natural back pain relief specialists but, depending on their states laws, chiropractors may also be able to help you in a variety of ways. But, since back pain is why most people would go to a chiropractor for the first time; this article focuses on how the best chiropractors deal with this issue.
In a May 2009 article on ConsumerReports.Org; chiropractic was rated at the top for back pain relief treatments. It should be noted that this study made no mention of what type of back pain. Most of the public and all of us doctors out there know that low or lower back pain is much different than upper back, shoulder and mid back pain. That being said, we can assume that this article is referring to back pain in general. The article goes on to state that about 80 percent of U.S. Adults have, at some point been bothered by back pain. The Consumer Reports Health Ratings Center surveyed more than 14,000 subscribers who had lower-back pain in the past year to write this study. None of these subscribers have had surgery. More than half said pain severely limited their daily routine for a week or longer and 88 percent said it recurred through the year. Many said the pain interfered with many activities of daily living including efforts to maintain a healthy weight. This article lists chiropractic as having a higher satisfaction rate than physical therapy, acupuncture and primary care.
In fact, many Portland chiropractors and chiropractors around the world have experienced the same thing. How do you find a chiropractor to help you with your back pain? Well, here are some hints and ideas that I believe are paramount to both relieving back pain and creating a functional structure so you decrease your risk of having back pain again. First, the way our body moves in space is governed by a combination of mobility (how much we move) and stability (how controlled this movement is). In almost all cases, mobility "trumps" stability, that is, you cannot have proper stability without first having mobility.
For instance, for the low back to be stable, the vertebrae in your low back must move properly AND your hips and ankles must be adequately mobile (especially your hips). This is where a chiropractor can do wonders. We deal with mobility issues as good or better than most other health care providers. The chiropractic adjustment restores mobility of your joints. Unfortunately, this step is where many chiropractors stop. Chances are, if you are seeing your chiropractor for a few minutes each appointment and all they are doing is adjusting you, they have stopped at this step. Many Portland chiropractors make sure that once mobility has been restored, the patient and their doctor work quickly to restore stability. One of the reasons this is so prevalent in Portland, OR, is because Western States Chiropractic College is in Portland and the curriculum is evidence-based.
Often, in the stability stage the patient does most of the work and their chiropractor will just prescribe exercises and self-mobilizations that are customized to restore proper stability. In general, this consists of some hip and ankle "stretches" or mobilizations; hip stabilization exercises; specific low back exercises and lastly, dynamic exercises like kettlebell swings, TRX suspension exercises or even something more obscure like unicycle riding (you may laugh, this has been the "magic bullet" in a few patients' low back rehabilitation).
This last step is crucial. If you go to a chiropractor for any musculoskeletal problem and they fail to help restore stability, there is an 80% chance that it is going to come back.
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