Low back pain causes more global disability than any other health problem studied.

Low back pain is something that almost all people experience at some point in their lives. It is something common across sexes, age groups, countries, socioeconomic groups, education levels and occupation,” said Damian Hoy, Senior Research Fellow at the University of Queensland’s School of Population Health, in Australia.

“Back pain is the number one cause of lost work days in the U.S,” said Dr. Anders Cohen, Chief of Neurosurgery and Spine Surgery at the Brooklyn Hospital Center, in New York City.
Hoy and his colleagues reviewed 117 published studies that included information on low back pain prevalence. They also reviewed surveys done in 50 countries on back pain prevalence and severity. Compared to 291 other health conditions, the researchers found that low back pain causes more global disability than any other health problem studied.

The second study — done by researchers in Australia and the United States — looked at data from 187 countries from 1990 and 2010. Just over one-third of all work-related disability was related to low back pain, the study found.

“With aging and growing populations, low back pain is an enormous burden in developing countries,” lead author, Hoy said. “This is predicted to grow substantially over coming decades and will likely have an enormous impact on individual livelihoods, health care systems and economies.”

Both studies were published online on March 24 in the Annals of the Rheumatic Diseases.

If you, or someone you care about, have back pain, we would love to the opportunity to help. Just call us or email us through the website.

Chiropractic: Upper Back Adjustments Help Neck Pain?

Spinal manipulation applied to the upper thoracic spinal region of sixty non-specific neck patients was found to improve cervical mobility and decrease neck pain.
Manual Therapy, March 2014

What Type of Doctor Should You See For Acute or Chronic Back Pain?

Have you ever considered who is the best suited to treat back pain?

Since there are so many treatment options available today, it is quite challenging to make this decision without a little help.To facilitate, a study looking at this very question compared the effectiveness between medical and chiropractic intervention.

Over a 4-year time frame, 2780 patients were followed with questionnaires. Low Back Pain patients were treated using conventional approaches by both MDs (Medical Doctors) and DCs (Doctors of Chiropractic). Chiropractic treatments included spinal manipulation, physical therapy, an exercise plan, and self-care education.

Medical therapies included prescription drugs, an exercise plan, self-care advice and about 25% of the patients received physical therapy. The study focused on present pain severity and functional disability (activity interference) measured by questionnaires mailed to the patients. It was reported that chiropractic was favored over medical treatment in the following areas:

  • Pain relief in the first 12 months (more evident in the chronic patients)
  • When LBP pain radiated below the knee (more evident in the chronic patients)
  • Chronic LBP patients with no leg pain (during the first 3 months)
  • Similar trends favoring chiropractic were seen for disability but were of smaller magnitude.

All patient groups saw significant improvement in both pain and disability over the four year study period. Acute patients saw the greatest degree of improvement with many achieving symptom relief after 3 months of care. This study also found early intervention reduced chronic pain and, at year 3, those acute LBP patients who received early intervention reported fewer days of LBP than those who waited longer for treatment.

While both MDs and DCs treatment approaches helped, it’s quite clear from the information reported that chiropractic should be utilized first.

These findings support the importance of early intervention by chiropractic physicians and make the most sense for those of you struggling with the question of who to see for your LBP.

The 1-Page Health News, Courtesy of Denver Chiropractic Center April 1, 2014

Mental Attitude: Is Stress Contagious?
A new report finds that not only do babies pick up on their mother’s stress but their bodies will also mimic physiological changes. Researchers found that when mothers were stressed and then reunited with their infant, the child quickly adopted his/her mother’s stress response, including a corresponding change in heart rate. Lead author Dr. Sara Waters writes, “Before infants are verbal and able to express themselves fully, we can overlook how exquisitely attuned they are to the emotional tenor of their caregivers… Your infant may not be able to tell you that you seem stressed or ask you what is wrong, but our work shows that, as soon as she is in your arms, she is picking up on the bodily responses accompanying your emotional state and immediately begins to feel in her own body your own negative emotion.”
Psychological Science, February 2014

Health Alert: Buckle Your Children Up!
Tragically, car accidents still claim the lives of over 9,000 American children each year. Researchers working for the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) believe that nearly a third of these deaths can be prevented if parents simply secured their children in age/size appropriate car seats. They point out that in states where car seats are required until ages 7-8, more children are put into car and booster seats and serious injury rates are 17% lower than in states without such laws.
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, February 2014

Diet: No More Than 2-3 Cups Per Day…
Using current research on the over-consumption of caffeine as a guide, Dr. Laura Juliano, co-author of “Caffeine Use Disorder: A Comprehensive Review and Research Agenda,” recommends healthy adults limit caffeine consumption to no more than two to three cups of coffee per day (about 400 mg/day) and pregnant women to no more than half that amount. She also recommends people with health problems such as anxiety, insomnia, heart problems, or urinary incontinence limit or even eliminate caffeine consumption.
Journal of Caffeine Research, February 2014

Exercise: Sitting and Disability.
For the first time, a study has labeled sedentary activity as a risk factor for disability for people over age 60. Using data on over 2,000 adults over 60 years of age, researchers were shocked to discover that being sedentary is just as large a risk factor for disability as not exercising, and the risk of disability dramatically increases for each additional hour spent sitting at a computer or on the couch watching TV.
Journal of Physical Activity & Health, February 2014

Chiropractic: Acute Low Back Pain Treatment Comparison.
In this study, researchers compared the efficacy of spinal manipulation to diclofenac, a non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drug (NSAID), for the treatment of acute low back pain. Based on outcomes including self-rated physical disability, function, time missed from work, and rescue medication use during the following 12 weeks, spinal manipulation proved to be a significantly better treatment.
Spine, April 2013

Wellness/Prevention: Mammography Recommended for Women in Their 40s.
While the United States Preventive Services Task Force’s 2009 guidelines recommend against routine mammograms for women in their 40s, new research shows that regular screenings would benefit this age group by helping doctors catch the disease when it can still be treated without extensive surgery or chemotherapy. Current statistics show that one in eight women will develop breast cancer, and if the disease is caught early enough, the five-year survival rate is 97%.
American Journal of Roentgenology, February 2014

A Question about knee pain

The Question (from a real patient):

Hi, Glenn

You sucessfully treated me over a year ago for tarsel tunnel syndrome. I had my left knee scoped about four months ago to remove torn cartilage. I went through several months of PT and regained reasonable strength (it took me longer than some people because I had lots of edema and the VMO had been shut down for months.) However, I still have tightness, localized tenderness and restricted range of motion when I attempt to get back into certain yoga poses or do deep squats. My ortho and PT suspect that I have some scar tissue. I’ve been receiving deep tissue massage, which is helping but feel I need to do more to recover normal function. Have you treated similar issues before and do you think that ART would be helpful in my situation?

Dr. Glenn’s answer:

Residual scar tissue often follows arthroscopic surgeries. In my experience, the targeted techniques of Active Release are the best way to access and break up this scar tissue. On average, 4-8 sessions are required, but the results are usually good.