“During National Chiropractic Health Month, doctors of
chiropractic will encourage patients to ask questions and learn about safe,
effective, conservative approaches that may help them avoid riskier and more
costly treatments,” said ACA President Anthony Hamm, DC.
Take into consideration a study conducted in 2012 on
Washington state workers that found only 1.5 percent of those with back pain
treated by a chiropractor went on to have surgery, whereas 42.7 percent of
people who visited a surgeon or medical doctor consequently had surgery
performed. People suffering from back and neck pain generally think to visit
their medical doctor first who may prescribe medications and refer them to a
specialist. The ACA wants people to know that chiropractic care can be advantageous
in not only treating the pain without medications but also as a more
value-friendly solution, among other benefits.
The ACA stated in a press release three reasons why “Conservative
Care First” is “more important today than ever in facing our nation’s
healthcare challenges.” The first reason is that chiropractic physicians are
the “highest-rated healthcare practitioners for low-back pain treatments with
their patient-centered, whole-person approach that provides greater interaction
and communication for appropriate diagnosis and developing more cost-effective
treatment planning.”
The second reason correlates with what the Centers for
Disease Control and Prevention call an “epidemic” of prescription drug abuse in
America. Patients are given medications that simply mask the pain and can cause
dangerous addictions when taken for long periods of time. In 2010, more than
17,000 people were killed because of their overuse of pain medications.
Chiropractic doctors practice safe, all-natural methods without the use of
pills.
The third reason suggests that recent evidence points to the
overuse (and questions the effectiveness) of “more invasive treatments such as
spinal fusion surgery and spinal steroid injections” to treat back pain. There’s
no question that any surgery is an expensive procedure, so it is “reasonable
for patients to exhaust more conservative options before undergoing these
costly procedures,” according to the ACA.
The American Chiropractic Association is the largest professional
organization that represents doctors of chiropractic in the United States. The
ACA hosts National Chiropractic Health Month every October to help raise public
awareness of the numerous benefits of chiropractic care with its natural,
patient-centered approach to health.
