In our Burton practice, we see a lot of people who are struggling with back pain, and some of these folks have been informed they might need surgery to recover. Fortunately, Dr. Elganainy has helped many people get relief without the need for any type of operation. The science agrees with the success we see in our office. One medical study published in the journal Spine found that consulting with a chiropractor as your first move in dealing with your back problems may actually keep you out of the operating room.
In this report, medical experts from Dartmouth reviewed data from 1,885 workers from the state of Washington who first saw either a surgeon or a chiropractic doctor for their back pain issues. They then examined three years' worth of follow-up medical information to find out whether the individuals wound up having back surgery in an attempt to treat the issue.
What the authors found was that 42.7% of the patients who first consulted with a surgeon for their back pain ended up having a surgical procedure in that 3-year time span, whereas only 1.5 percent 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 impressive findings. Consulting with a chiropractor drastically reduces your odds of getting 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 keep in mind this important detail: this study was performed by orthopedic surgeons from Dartmouth College, and printed in the world's most influential medical journal on spinal injuries.
The Problems with Surgery
Any surgery has risks, but a major downside associated with spinal surgery is that there is a very high rate of failure. 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, Dr. Elganainy is convinced that surgery should be the absolute last resort 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 established the efficacy of chiropractic for back pain.
If you live in Burton and you need care for your back pain, give our office a call today at (810) 715-7746 for a consultation or an appointment. We'll help get you back on the road to a pain-free life!
Studies
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