Want To Avoid Surgery? See A Chiropractor

Asheville Chiropractic Better Than Back Surgery

In our Asheville office, we see plenty of people who are troubled with back pain, and some of these folks have been advised they might need surgery to recover. Thankfully, Dr. Myers has helped many people get pain relief without the need for any type of surgical treatment. The scientific literature confirms the success we see in our practice. One research study published in the medical journal Spine found that seeing a chiropractor as your first step in dealing with your back problems may literally keep you off of the operating table.

In this research study, medical experts from Dartmouth analyzed data from about 1,900 workers from the state of Washington who first saw either an orthopedic surgeon or a chiropractor for their back pain issues. They then looked at three years' worth of follow-up medical information to find out whether the individuals ended up having back surgery in an effort to treat the problem.

What the authors determined 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 frame, whereas only 1.5 percent 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 remarkable findings. Consulting with a chiropractor dramatically reduces your odds of having back surgery, plus the chiropractic patients in this scientific study "had lower odds of chronic work disability" and they also had fewer expensive MRI tests.

Let's also take note this important detail: this study was conducted by orthopedic surgeons from Dartmouth College, and published in the world's most influential medical journal on spinal injury.

Why You Should Avoid Surgery

Any surgical procedure has risks, but a major downside related to spinal surgery is that there's a very high failure rate. In an important review 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%."

The authors of this same study concluded:

"It is extremely difficult to identify unequivocal predictor factors that can be used to accurately predict the outcome of surgery."

As a chiropractor, Dr. Myers is convinced that surgery should be the absolute last resort for treating back pain. Chiropractic care works to restore your spine to its normal function--without the need of risky surgery or drugs--and many studies have documented the efficacy of chiropractic for back pain.

If you live in Asheville and you need care for your back pain, give our practice a call today at (828) 676-0963 for a consultation or an appointment. We'll help get you back on the road to a pain-free life!

Studies

• Keeney BJ, Fulton-Kehoe D, Turner JA, Wickizer TM, Chan KC, Franklin GM. Early predictors of lumbar spine surgery after occupational back injury: results from a prospective study of workers in Washington State. Spine 2013;38(11):953-964.
• Mannion AF, Elfering A. Predictors of surgical outcome and their assessment. European Spine Journal 2006;15(Suppl 1):S93-S108.