The American Chiropractic Association (2010) reported that 31 million Americans experience low back pain. This is an epidemic of staggering proportions because what most of the public and doctors alike do not understand is that it sets the patient up for problems later in life that can be prevented with the proper treatment.
According to the Mayo Clinic (2009), ” scoliosis is a sideways curvature of the spine that occurs most often during the growth spurt just before puberty. While scoliosis can be caused by conditions such as cerebral palsy and muscular dystrophy, the cause of most scoliosis is unknown. Most cases of scoliosis are mild, but severe scoliosis can be disabling.
When you are experiencing pain in the lower back, it can often be intense and cause for worry. You wonder how something can hurt so badly and are looking for anything to reduce the discomfort. Many times, these types of pain cause a trip to the emergency room.
The cost of healthcare has been such a burden on the economy that it now accounts for 16.2% of the national gross domestic product (GDP) in 2008. Congress, along with President Obama, has enacted a health care reform bill that addresses many issues in the health care reform arena that will ensure every American has health care coverage.
A recent study examined the positive effect a chiropractic adjustment has on the pain levels of muscle spasm in the neck. When only a part of a muscle goes into spasm it is called a trigger point (knot). These hypersensitive areas are a common cause of pain in the neck and a major reason patients present for treatment.
One of the most common areas of the body to be hurt while working, playing sports, cleaning out the garage or any other household or life chore is the lower back.
The term “herniated disc” has been called many things from a slipped disc to a bulging disc. For a doctor who specializes in disc problems, the term is critical because it tells him/her how to create a prognosis and subsequent treatment plan for a patient.
According to the Arthritis Foundation (2007), “Forty-six million [46,000,000] Americans are currently living with arthritis, the nation’s leading cause of disability, and we are all paying a high price for it.
Let’s do the math. If we take the 400,000 disc surgeries (adding cervical surgeries to the equation) done each year as discussed in the opening paragraph and apply McMorland et al.’s (2010) findings that 60% of surgical candidates had successful outcomes with chiropractic as an alternative to surgery, 240,000 patients yearly could avoid needless surgery if they sought chiropractic care.
There have been many discussions regarding the effects of the short and long-term benefits of a chiropractic adjustment. The ultimate focus is a change in the biomechanics and therefore, the physiology surrounding the affected area of the spine. Although there is a significant amount of evidence showing the effects of spinal adjusting on the central nervous system, this study concentrated on the effects on the peripheral nervous system (outside of the brain and spinal cord) and paraspinal musculature, specifically of the effects of spinal adjusting on the paraspinal musculature in the mid-lower back (thoracic and lumbar spines).