Avoid Back Surgery With Chiropractic

In our Naperville, IL office, we see plenty of patients who are struggling with back pain, and a few of these folks have been informed they might need surgery to recover. Fortunately, Frank Bendiks, DC, PC has helped many people get relief without the need for any type of surgery. The scientific literature confirms the results we see in our office. One study published in the academic journal Spine found that seeing a chiropractor as your first move in overcoming with your back issues may actually keep you off of the operating table.

In this scientific study, medical professionals from Dartmouth analyzed statistics from 1,885 workers from the state of Washington who first saw either a surgeon or a chiropractor for their back pain issues. They then used three years' worth of follow-up medical data to determine whether the subjects wound up having back surgery in an effort to correct the problem.

What the researchers discovered was that 42.7% of the patients who first saw a surgeon for their back issues ended up with 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 outcomes. Seeing a chiropractor dramatically decreases your odds of having back surgery, plus the chiropractic patients in this report "had lower odds of chronic work disability" and they also had fewer expensive MRI tests.

Let's also keep in mind this important detail: this study was conducted by orthopedic surgeons from Dartmouth College, and published in the world's most distinguished medical journal on spinal injuries.

Why You Should Avoid Surgery

Any surgery has risks, but a major problem associated with spinal surgery is that there's a very high failure rate. In an important analysis 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, Frank Bendiks, DC, PC is convinced that surgery should be the absolute last choice for treating back pain. Chiropractic care works to restore your spine to its normal function--without the need of high-risk surgery or drugs--and many studies have documented the efficacy of chiropractic for back pain.

If you live in Naperville, IL and you need care for your back pain, give our practice a call today at (630) 301-0054 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.