Research!

WHIPLASH:

One medical study concluded 43% of patients "will suffer long-term symptoms following 'whiplash' injury, for which no conventional treatment has proven to be effective."

This means that almost half the people who have neck trauma from a car wreck will suffer for years. Plus the traditional methods of treatment like neck collars, 'wait-and-see', and pain pills are not working.

Chiropractic treatment has proven to be a very effective method of healing whiplash injuries. Here's the results of one chiropractic study...

“The results of this retrospective study would suggest that benefits can occur in over 90% of patients undergoing chiropractic treatment for chronic whiplash injury.” -- European Spine Journal

CHIROPRACTIC ADJUSTMENTS AND PAIN:

“Manipulation [chiropractic adjustments], with or without exercise, improved symptoms more than medical care did after both 3 and 12 months.”– British Medical Journal

“Chiropractor’s manipulation of the spine was more helpful than any of the following:  traction, massage, biofeedback, acupuncture, injection of steroids into the spine and back corsets, and ultrasound.” -- Stanley Bigos, MD, Professor of Orthopedic Surgery

  HYPERTENSION:

“This procedure has the effect of not one, but two blood-pressure medications given in combination… And it seems to be adverse-event free. We saw no side effects and no problems” said study leader George Bakris, MD, director of the University of Chicago hypertension center.

KEY POINTS FROM:

Spinal Manipulation in the Treatment of Low back Pain

Canadian Family Physician

March 1985, Vol. 31, pp. 535-540

1) 80% of the population will experience low back pain during their adult life.

2) At any given time, 20-30% of the adult population is suffering from low back pain.

3) “Less than 10% of low back pain is due to herniation of the intervertebral disc or entrapment of spinal
    nerves by degenerative disc disease.”

4) Moving of a joint beyond the passive range of motion, past the elastic barrier,
    and into the paraphysiological space, requires “cracking” of the joint; this is their definition of manipulation
     [adjustment].

5) “Cracking” of the joint causes the patient no harm or damage.

6) “At the end of the paraphysiological range of motion, the limit of anatomical integrity is encountered.
     Movement beyond this limit results in damage to the capsular ligaments.”

7) These authors propose that manipulation inhibits pain by firing facet capsule mechanoreceptors, which in
     turn close the pain gate for the central transmission of pain.

8) In chronic low back pain, there is shortening of periarticular connective tissues and intra-articular adhesions
     may form. Manipulations [adjustments] can stretch or break these adhesions, which may give the patient
     a temporary increase in symptoms. This increase in symptoms should be controlled by the application of
     ice, not by abandoning additional manipulations [adjustments]. If manipulations [adjustments] are
     stopped, “further adhesion formation” may occur.

9) These authors do not recommend manipulation in cases of prolapsed disc with “marked neurological
    deficit.”

10) These authors show that specific chiropractic adjustments can essentially “fix” 81% of referred joint
      dysfunction and 48% of nerve compressive back pain syndromes in patients that are completely disabled
      and who have failed all prior treatment (including surgery), if they are appropriately adjusted daily for a
      period of at least 2 – 3 weeks.

11) “No patients were made worse by the manipulation, yet many experienced a increase in pain during the
       first week of treatment. Patients undergoing manipulative treatment must therefore be reassured that the
       initial discomfort is only temporary.”

12) “In our experience, anything less than two weeks of daily manipulation is inadequate for chronic low back
       pain patients.” [Very Important]

13) Radiographic evidence of motion segmental instability (from maximum flexion–extension lateral views)
      “was associated with a significantly poorer response to manipulation.”

14) “The physician who makes use of this [manipulation] resource will provide relief for many back pain patients.”

KEY POINTS FROM:

Chiropractic treatment of chronic ‘whiplash’ injuries

Injury

Volume 27, Issue 9, November 1996, Pages 643-645

  1) 43% of those injured in whiplash will experience long-term symptoms. In this study, at least one patient
     had ongoing symptoms 3 years 8 months following whiplash injury.

2) “If [whiplash] patients are still symptomatic after 3 months then there is almost a 90% chance that they will
     remain so.”

3) “No conventional treatment has proven to be effective in these established chronic cases.”

4) “Spinal manipulation is a high-velocity low-amplitude thrust to a specific vertebral segment aimed at
     increasing the range of movement in the individual facet joint, breaking down adhesions and stimulating
     production of synovial fluid.”

5) In this study, chiropractic improved the symptom category of 93% chronic whiplash patients. This is
    particularly important considering that 96% of these 8 patients had intrusive symptoms that handicapped
    their work and leisure activities and required frequent use of pain drugs, or they were severely disabled,
    having lost jobs and required continued medical interventions with constant use of pain drugs.

6) “The whiplash syndrome is a cause of long-term symptoms for which conventional medicine has failed to
     discover an effective treatment.”

7) Chiropractic has been shown to be advantageous compared to conventional medicine in the treatment of
     low back pain.

8) Complications from cervical manipulations are rare, and when they are reported in the literature, they often
     “arose as a result of spinal manipulation performed by non-chiropractors, who had been misrepresented in
     the literature as being trained chiropractors.”

 

KEY POINT FROM:

Cost effectiveness of physiotherapy, manual therapy, and general practitioner care for neck pain: economic evaluation alongside a randomised controlled trial British Medical Journal;326:911; April 26, 2003

(1) Manual therapy achieves the best recovery rates, the lowest use of drugs, the least time off work, and is
     more cost effective compared to drugs and physiotherapy directed active exercises.

 

Conclusions To Be Drawn From

The Evolution Of The Modern Medical &

Chiropractic Doctor’s Relationship

Over The Past 30 Years And

The Research That Supports It

 

1. In the United States, Alternative and Complimentary Medicine is substantial and growing.

2. Chiropractic constitutes a significant aspect of contemporary Alternative and Complimentary medicine.

3. Chiropractic probably helps patients with pain because of the Gate Theory of Pain. Reductions of joint
    motion open the Pain Gate, making it easier for pain to enter the central nervous system. Chiropractic
    adjustments improve the ranges of joint motion, inhibiting pain.

4. The primary tissue origins of chronic spinal pain are the facet capsules and the annulus of the disc; these
    art the exact tissues that are affected by chiropractic spinal adjusting.

5. Chiropractic is especially beneficial in the management of chronic spinal problems, including spinal
     problems that have not achieved acceptable clinical improvement with traditional approaches.

6. The chiropractic management of musculoskeletal syndromes is clinically effective, safe, and cost effective.   
     In closing, as with all of health care over the last 30 years many things have changed, some for the better
     and certainly some for the worse. However in reference to this strong and growing alliance between the
     Modern Medical Doctor and the Modern Chiropractic Doctor… it’s clear that not only is the relationship  
     here to stay, it’s clear the relationship holds great promise and opportunity for all 3 parties involved… the
     Medical & Chiropractic Doctors along with their very appreciative patients.