Video: Chiropractic Prevents the Need for Back Surgery

Seeing a chiropractor can help you avoid back surgery, according to a new study in the journal Spine. Researchers studied nearly 2,000 injured workers with back pain, and found that the health-care provider significantly affected a patient's likelihood of receiving surgery.

People who first visited a medical doctor for their back pain were more likely to have an operation than people who first visited a chiropractor. Nearly 43% of medical patients had surgery compared to just 1.5% of chiropractic patients. That means medical patients were 28 times more likely have surgery.

Instead of depending on pain meds and expensive procedures, the chiropractic patients improved through natural treatments that addressed the root of their pain.

Reference

Keeney BJ, et al. Early predictors of lumbar spine surgery after occupational back injury: results from a prospective study of works in Washington state. Spine 2012; doi: 10.1097/BRS.0b013e3182814ed5.