New Guidelines Issued by the American College of Occupational and Environmental Medicine for Low Back Pain

Back pain is a major problem in the United States:

• One-half of all working Americans admit to having back pain symptoms each year.
• Back pain is one of the most common reasons for missed work.  In fact, back pain is the second most common reason for visits to the doctor’s office, outnumbered only by upper-respiratory infections.
• Most cases of back pain are mechanical or non-organic—meaning they are not caused by serious conditions, such as inflammatory arthritis, infection, fracture or cancer.
• Americans spend at least $50 billion each year on back pain—and that’s just for the more easily identified costs.
• Experts estimate that as many as 80% of the population will experience a back problem at some time in our lives.

What Causes Back Pain?

The back is a complicated structure of bones, joints, ligaments and muscles. You can sprain ligaments, strain muscles, rupture disks, and irritate joints, all of which can lead to back pain. While sports injuries or accidents can cause back pain, sometimes the simplest of movements—for example, picking up a pencil from the floor— can have painful results. In addition, arthritis, poor posture, obesity, and psychological stress can cause or complicate back pain. Back pain can also directly result from disease of the internal organs, such as kidney stones, kidney infections, blood clots, or bone loss.

Manipulation as a Treatment for Back Problems

According to the New Guidelines Issued by the American College of Occupational and Environmental Medicine for Low Back Pain, spinal manipulation, massage therapy and acupuncture have all received a “recommendation” in the management of lower back pain.

Spinal manipulation is used primarily by Doctors of Chiropractic (DCs) for the last century; manipulation has been largely ignored by most others in the health care community until recently. Now, with today’s growing emphasis on treatment and cost effectiveness, manipulation is receiving more widespread attention.

Chiropractic spinal manipulation is a safe and effective spine pain treatment. It reduces pain, decreases medication, rapidly advances physical therapy, and requires very few passive forms of treatment, such as bed rest.

Acupuncture for low back pain has been used for centuries to help manage this painful condition. There are hundreds of scientific references on this topic.

For more information on low back pain treatment, please contact Dr. Denny at (954) 473-8925 or visit www.multicareclinic.org and www.drscottdenny.com.