Chiropractic Is a Natural Alternative to Back Surgery

In our Springfield, MA practice, we see many people who are dealing with back pain, and some of these people have been informed they might need surgery to recover. Fortunately, Dr. Delson has helped many people get pain relief without the need for any type of surgical procedure. The scientific literature agrees with the success we see in our practice. One study published in the medical journal Spine found that consulting with a chiropractor as your first move in overcoming with your back issues may literally keep you out of the operating room.

In this report, medical experts from Dartmouth analyzed statistics from 1,885 workers from Washington state who first saw either a surgeon or a chiropractic doctor for their back-related issues. They then examined three years' worth of follow-up medical records to ascertain whether the individuals wound up having back surgery in an effort to treat the problem.

What the authors discovered was that about 43% of the men and women who first saw a surgeon for their back problems ended up in surgery in that 3-year time span, whereas only 1.5% of those who first consulted with a chiropractor had the same fate. The authors wrote:

"Even after controlling for injury severity and other measures, workers with an initial visit for the injury to a surgeon had almost nine times the odds of receiving lumbar spine surgery compared to those seeing primary care providers, whereas workers whose first visit was to a chiropractor had significantly lower odds of surgery."

These are remarkable results. Consulting with a chiropractor dramatically decreases your odds of having back surgery, plus the chiropractic patients in this study "had lower odds of chronic work disability" and they also had fewer expensive MRI tests.

Let's also take into account this important point: this study was carried out by orthopedic surgeons from Dartmouth College, and printed in the world's most influential medical journal on spinal injury.

Why You Should Avoid Surgery

Any surgery has risks, but a major downside associated with spinal surgery is that there is a very high failure rate. In an important review in the European Spine Journal, researchers wrote:

"Failed back surgery is a problem that has become sufficiently widespread to even warrant its own special conferences, with recent reviews reporting failure rates ranging from 5 to 50%."

The experts in this same study concluded:

"It is extremely difficult to identify unequivocal predictor factors that can be used to accurately predict the outcome of surgery."

As a chiropractor, Dr. Delson believes that surgery should be the absolute last choice for treating back pain. Chiropractic care works to restore your spine to its normal function--without high-risk surgery or drugs--and many scientific studies have confirmed the effectiveness of chiropractic for back pain.

If you live in Springfield, MA and you need relief for your back pain, give our office a call today at (413) 788-4464 for a consultation or an appointment. We'll help get you back on the road to a pain-free life!

Studies

• Keeney BJ, Fulton-Kehoe D, Turner JA, Wickizer TM, Chan KC, Franklin GM. Early predictors of lumbar spine surgery after occupational back injury: results from a prospective study of workers in Washington State. Spine 2013;38(11):953-964.
• Mannion AF, Elfering A. Predictors of surgical outcome and their assessment. European Spine Journal 2006;15(Suppl 1):S93-S108.