This October, the American Chirpractic Association and doctors of chiropractic nationwide are celebrating National Chiropractic Health Month with the theme, “Get Started with Chiropractic.” Learn more about chiropractic as a first-line defense again back pain below, and follow the conversation online with the hashtag #GetStartedwithChiropractic.
Pain can bring life to a standstill. When movement becomes painful and people are forced to stay home from work or reduce outside activities they enjoy, it can lead to a cascade of consequences including reduced function and productivity, isolation, depression and hopelessness.
“That’s the thing about pain. When you are in agony, it is all-encompassing,” writes Dr. Sanjay Gupta in his latest book about pain.(1) In it, the neurosurgeon acknowledges that, “Because opioids have consumed most of the conversation, most people don’t even realize there are plenty of other effective options to help relieve pain[.]”
In respect to back pain, one of the most common forms of musculoskeletal pain, what many people also don’t realize is that how you start treating your pain may have an impact on what type of treatment, if any, you will require down the line. Evidence shows that for some people, conservative (i.e. non-drug) care can provide relief to their pain and help them effectively manage it, enabling them to resume their lives and reduce or even eliminate the need to progress to treatments that carry more risk.
In fact, studies (2-5) have shown that people who see a doctor of chiropractic (DC) first for their chronic back pain are far less likely to need an opioid prescription later. The growing body of research supporting chiropractic care and other non-drug approaches to pain, coupled with awareness of the serious risks associated with treatments such as prescription opioid pain medications and surgery, has led to an overall greater recognition in health care of the value of a conservative approach to pain.
In 2017, the American College of Physicians (ACP), the largest medical specialty organization in the world, updated its guideline for the treatment of acute and chronic low back pain(6) to recommend first using noninvasive, non-drug treatments—including spinal manipulation—before resorting to over-the-counter and prescription drugs.
Other groups, such as the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the World Health Organization, have made similar updates to their guidelines. For example, in CDC’s 2022 Clinical Practice Guideline for Prescribing Opioids(7), the agency promotes “diverse approaches and varied pain management solutions” and specifically encourages use of non-opioid/non-drug therapies as a first line of treatment against subacute and chronic pain.
For more than 100 years, the chiropractic profession has provided a patient-centered, non-drug approach to pain management and wellness that includes spinal manipulation and other manual therapies, exercise recommendations, and suggestions for nutrition, ergonomic, and lifestyle-related changes to both strengthen the body and support healing and recovery. It is a holistic approach that is aligned with current research and clinical best practices.
To learn more about chiropractic, explore handsdownbetter.org. To search for an ACA chiropractor near you, click here.
References
- Gupta, S. “Pain-free for Life.” Excerpted in AARP Bulletin, Vol. 66, No.5.
- Whedon et al. Association Between Utilization of Chiropractic Services for Treatment of Low-Back Pain and Use of Prescription Opioids J Altern Complement Med. 2018 Jun;24(6):552-556. doi: 10.1089/acm.2017.0131. Epub 2018 Feb 22. PMID: 29470104 DOI: 10.1089/acm.2017.0131.
- Kelsey L Corcoran, Lori A Bastian, Craig G Gunderson, Catherine Steffens, Alexandria Brackett, Anthony J Lisi, Association Between Chiropractic Use and Opioid Receipt Among Patients with Spinal Pain: A Systematic Review and Meta-analysis, Pain Medicine, pnz219, https://doi.org/10.1093/pm/pnz219.
- Kazis LE, Ameli O, Rothendler J, et al. Observational retrospective study of the association of initial healthcare provider for new-onset low back pain with early and long-term opioid use. BMJ Open 2019; 9:e028633. doi: 10.1136/bmjopen-2018-028633.
- Whedon et al. Association between chiropractic care and use of prescription opioids among older Medicare beneficiaries with spinal pain: a retrospective observational study. Chiropr Man Therap. 2022 Jan 31;30(1):5. PMID: 35101064, PMCID: PMC8802278, DOI: 10.1186/s12998-022-00415-7.
- Qaseem A et al. Noninvasive Treatments for Acute, Subacute, and Chronic Low Back Pain: A Clinical Practice Guideline From the American College of Physicians. Ann Intern Med. 2017;166(7):514-530. DOI: 10.7326/M16-2367
- Dowell D, Ragan KR, Jones CM, Baldwin GT, Chou R. CDC Clinical Practice Guideline for Prescribing Opioids for Pain — United States, 2022. MMWR Recomm Rep 2022;71(No. RR-3):1–95. DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.15585/mmwr.rr7103a1.
