In our Singapore chiropractic clinic, we see a lot of people who are troubled with back pain, and some of these folks have been advised they might need surgery to recover. Thankfully, Dr. Stakes has helped many people get relief without the need for any type of surgery. The scientific literature agrees with the success we see in our office. One study published in the academic journal Spine found that consulting with a chiropractor as your first move in overcoming with your back problems may literally keep you out of the operating room.
In this scientific study, medical experts from Dartmouth analyzed data from about 1,900 workers from Washington state who first saw either an orthopedic surgeon or a chiropractic doctor for their back pain issues. They then looked at three years' worth of follow-up medical information to determine whether the individuals wound up having back surgery in an effort to treat the issue.
What the researchers discovered was that 42.7% of the people who first consulted with a surgeon for their back pain ended up with surgery in that 3-year time span, whereas only 1.5% 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 results. Visiting a chiropractor considerably decreases your odds of having back surgery, plus the chiropractic patients in this report "had lower odds of chronic work disability" and they also had fewer expensive MRI tests.
Let's also take into account this important detail: this study was performed by orthopedic surgeons from Dartmouth College, and printed in the world's most prestigious medical publication on spinal injury.
Any surgical procedure has risks, but a major downside associated with spinal surgery is that there's 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%."
"It is extremely difficult to identify unequivocal predictor factors that can be used to accurately predict the outcome of surgery."
As a chiropractor, Dr. Stakes is convinced that surgery should be the absolute last resort for treating back pain. Chiropractic works to restore your spine to its normal function--without risky surgery or drugs--and many studies have demonstrated the efficacy of chiropractic for back pain.
If you live in Singapore and you need relief for your back pain, give our practice a call today at +65 6235 1220 for a consultation or an appointment. We'll help get you back on the road to a pain-free life!
Studies
