Article Review from Dynamic Chiropractic Vol 36, #11
I think deep down, it’s a secret wish of all chiropractors to have a wellness based practice. Think about it, patients who come in before they have a problem?! What a novel idea (smirk). No insurance companies, excessive forms to fill out or fighting tooth and nail to help patients understand the value and importance of regular adjustments which, all sounds like a dream come true to me. Good news is, more and more research is coming out to back up chiropractors and their “fanciful” ideas of routine or wellness visits to keep the body healthy and in good working order.
Here is a review of a recent study done showing that regular chiropractor care, without symptoms, reduces the incidences of chronic LBP. (well duh…but hey it’s only true if the literature says so..sigh)
Here is the scoop on the maintenance care and low back pain.
This was recently published in the journal PLOS One as an investigator-blinded, two arm, randomized, controlled trial. It included 328 patients from 18-65 years old, with general low back pain. Theses patients had also responded well to previous chiropractic care for their low back pain. The patients were gleaned from over 40 different clinics across the US between 2012-2016 and were put in one of two groups.
Group One:
The first group would receive periodic chiropractic care even when no symptoms were present.
Group Two:
This group only had chiropractic adjustments when low back pain symptoms were present.
Both groups were monitored for the next 12 months.
Each week both groups were asked the same question:
“On how many days during the past week were you bothered by your lower back pain (i.e., it affected your activities of daily living or routines)?”
Group One aka The Maintenance Care Group:
These patients had an average of 6.7 visits and it was directly linked to 12.8 fewer days of bothersome low back pain.
What are your thoughts on having almost two weeks less each year of LBP???
Check this out…
In 2011 an article was published in Spine titled,
“Does Maintained Spinal Manipulation Therapy for Chronic Non-Specific Low Back Pain Result in Better Long-Term Outcome?”
Even though the title maybe a mouth full, it was one of the first studies to investigate maintenance care and the long term consequences. The results were definitely in favor of chiropractic care. The end result was, after ten months of one visit every two weeks patient’s pain levels and disability scores had improved dramatically.
This is great news for chiropractic. If you’re the clinic owner there is the possibility of shifting your practice towards more of alternative or homeopathic approach with less insurance and more autonomy of care for both you and your patients.
Of if you’re looking for an associate doctor position, you’re not crazy for wanting to explore the more wellness based approach vs dealing with car accidents and workers compensation. (Not that those aren’t legitimate or necessary but that kind of business does not appeal to everyone, I know it didn’t for me).
For more information on the article go to www.dynamicchiropractic.com
Kassandra Schultz DC