Chiropractic Helps People Avoid Back Surgery

In our Naperville, IL office, we see plenty of people who are dealing with back pain, and a few of these patients have been told 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 science agrees with the results we see in our office. One research study published in the medical journal Spine found that seeing a chiropractor as your first step in overcoming with your back problems may literally keep you out of the operating room.

In this research study, medical experts from Dartmouth reviewed data from 1,885 workers from Washington state who first saw either an orthopedic surgeon or a chiropractor for their low back issues. They then looked at three years' worth of follow-up medical information to ascertain whether the subjects wound up having back surgery in an effort to treat the problem.

What the authors discovered was that about 43% of the patients who first saw a surgeon for their back pain ended up with surgery in that 3-year time frame, whereas only 1.5% of those who first saw 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 significantly 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 note this important point: this study was performed by orthopedic surgeons from Dartmouth College, and printed in the world's most influential medical publication on spinal injuries.

Why You Should Avoid Surgery

Any surgery has risks, but a serious problem linked to spine surgery is that there is 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 authors of 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 resort for treating back pain. Chiropractic works to restore your spine to its normal function--without the need of risky surgery or drugs--and many research studies have confirmed the usefulness 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.