Spinal Manipulative Therapy for Low Back Pain

Introduction Chiropractic manipulative therapy (CMT) has gained the attention of the medical and research communities, because substantial evidence has been found validating its efficacy for acute and the long-term treatment of low back pain (LBP). From 1993-2002, at least 43 randomized, controlled trials of spinal manipulation have been performed for acute, sub-acute and chronic LBP. 30 of these studies favor spinal manipulation over comparison treatments, 13 studies found no significant difference and not one study has found spinal manipulation to be statistically or clinically less effective than the comparison treatment.  CMT could be rising to be the most studied intervention for LBP.

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Spontaneous Resolution of Low Back Pain- A Misnomer

Eighty percent of Americans will experience low back pain (LBP) at some time in their lives1 with one-month prevalence between 35 and 37 percent. This makes LBP the second leading reason for visiting medical physicians and the leading reason for visiting chiropractors including chiropractic neurologists, in the U.S. Unfortunately, it is generally believed that most incidences of LBP are short-term with 80 to 90 percent of cases resolving within six weeks, irrespective of the administration of treatment. The implication of this often-quoted study is that the LBP resolves when, in fact, patients without medical or chiropractic discharge simply terminate their own care.

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Leg Length Inequality Contributes to Low Back Pain

 Leg length inequality (LLI) exists in 40-70 percent of the population. The causes include: one  side foot pronation, degenerative joint disease of the hip, knee and ankle, congenital hip dysplasia, avascular necrosis of the hip, fracture and knee and hip replacements. However, according to reseacher Taylor, the majority of LLI cases are due to uneven growth rates at the growth plates of the long bones of the legs.

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How Can One’s Back Suddenly “Go Out?”

Innocent movements such as reaching overhead, stepping off a curb, bending to tie a shoe or vacuuming can trigger severe low-back pain (LBP) because the underlining causes were long-standing! The subtle acts that cause LBP are, really, the “final straw”! Years of spinal abuse predispose one to back injuries. Excess body weight, poor sitting and standing postures, stress, and flaccid back extension (spinal erectors) and abdominal muscles greatly increase our chances of sudden, seemingly, unprovoked LBP because they destabilize the spine. The excess tension on the spine caused by these maladies is ongoing. It can stress the spine beyond its means to a break-point causing spasm and pain. The predisposing factors mentioned here are, most times, more important that the actual movement that started the pain.

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Chiropractic Neck Manipulations ARE Safe

Because of concerns about chiropractic training and the contraindications of spinal manipulation, medical physicians have been reluctant to refer patients to chiropractors. This issue will describe chiropractic, chiropractic neurology, therapies, and contraindications for spinal manipulation, growth of complimentary care and physicians’ call for more information on the science of chiropractic.

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Is Cracking One’s Own Neck and Low Back Safe?

“NO!” As a youngster, you might have been told to, “stop cracking your knuckles, because it makes them big and disfigured!” That advice holds true for those who “crack” their own necks, bones between the shoulder blades and low backs. Excessive manipulation, whether performed by a practitioner or oneself, could lead to several serious conditions:
• Tendons, which hold bones in place, becoming loose or torn as a result of too many quick stretches;
• Ligaments loosing their elasticity;
• Muscles becoming tight, spastic, and painful; and
• Nerves becoming irritated, resulting in numbness, tingling, and weakness.
Here’s why…

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Eye Strain and the Common Headache

Have you ever wondered about the relationship between headaches and eyestrain? How does eye fatigue make our necks tight and heads painful? One of the nucleuses of nerves that transmit information from our eyes extends from between the temples to the middle of the neck. It does not have the usual round-shape of other nuclei, but is thin and 9 inches long! This special sensory eye-nerve nucleus is located near neck nerves that control neck muscles. The eye-nerve, which is surrounded by the neck nerves, when over stimulated, irritates the neck nerves and triggers a unique reaction which makes our neck muscles tight. This contraction diminishes blood supply and causes irritation at the base of the skull, often resulting in head pain (cephalgia). Chiropractic neurological spinal decompression therapy, massage therapy and stretching relax the neck muscles that restrict normal function to the back of the head. This combined with neck manipulations frequently relieve common headaches. Some studies have shown that up to eighty percent of common headaches originate in or have some involvement with the neck.

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Chiropractic’s Effectiveness for Headaches

Chiropractic is the most common alternative-medical treatment for headaches in the United States. There are a number of randomized controlled trials that have demonstrated the effectiveness of chiropractic therapy in the treatment of tension, cervicogenic and migraine headaches.

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Common Sense Colds Prevention

Hallmark to the prevention of colds and flu-like symptoms, outside of the nutritional realm previously posted, are the some well-known measures are getting plenty of fluids & rest and staying warm. Washing one’s hands is not as well-known and deserves our attention. ‘Pushing fluids’ describes better what I tell patients, because ‘drinking plenty of fluids’ does not emphasis enough its importance and effectiveness, especially at the onset of symptoms. Place a full glass of water on one’s work desk, kitchen counter top or where one is throughout the day. Of course, this will cause more frequent urination, but this inconvenience is well-worth the prevention. Everyone studying science and ‘pre-med’ remembers the green & yellow colors that appear on petri dishes after they have been swabbed with samples from various everyday-used surfaces: the refrigerator door handle, faucet, computer mouse, etc. Thousands of microorganisms are transmitted with a single hand-shake, so washing one’s hands often is critical to preventing the transmission of potentially bad ones.

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The Best Type of Exercise

High-intensity, low-repetition (otherwise known as: resistance, strength or free-weight training) exercise has been proven to be one of the best forms of activity, because it develops muscle strength without damaging the joints.

On the other hand, high-repetition, low-resistance (jogging, racquet sports, etc.) activities are not as beneficial, because they provide less muscle strength and excessive wear of the joints. Yes, this form of exercise promotes cardiovascular health by strengthening the heart, but so does strength-training in a different way.

It decreases the ‘resting resistance’ of the heart which is the more important second number of one’s blood pressure reading. The diastolic pressure (systolic/diastolic, example: 120/70) is important because it is the amount of (hydraulic) blood pressure in arteries in between heart beats.

Read more about this topic at http://www.DrSaracino.com:
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