Got an achy back? You’re better off going to a chiropractor than popping another pain pill, suggests the results of a new study.
The study, published in the medical journal Spine, shows that that chiropractic adjustments are more effective than a drug for easing back pain.
To compare the efficacy of drugs and chiropractic, researchers tested the effects of spinal adjustments and a non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drug called diclofenac. They divided 38 patients with acute back pain into three treatment groups. One group received spinal adjustments and a placebo drug; the second group received sham adjustments and real diclofenac; and the control group received sham adjustments and a placebo drug.
While both the active treatment groups improved, patients receiving spinal adjustments were significantly better off than patients taking diclofenac. They experienced greater improvements in physical disability, function, time off work, and rescue medication.
This led researchers to conclude that “spinal manipulation was significantly better than non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drug diclofenac and clinically superior to placebo.”
These findings add to the growing body of research showing that chiropractic is more effective than drugs for back pain and sciatica. And it’s easy to see why. While drugs temporarily dull the pain, they do little to treat the root of the problem. Instead, chiropractic can relieve symptoms while addressing the underlying cause of pain.
Reference
von Heymann, et al. Spinal high-velocity low amplitude manipulation in acute nonspecific low back pain: a double-blinded randomized controlled trial in comparision with diclofenac and placebo. Spine 2013; 38 (7): 540-48. doi: 10.1097/BRS.0b013e318275d09c.