New Low-Back Pain Guidelines Should Encourage Patients to Utilize Spinal Ma...( ARLINGTON Va. Oct. 4 -- Newly re...),Health

ARLINGTON, Va., Oct. 4 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- Newly released practice guidelines published in the Annals of Internal Medicine stress a conservative approach to treating low-back pain and recommend spinal manipulation as one treatment with proven benefits. In light of these new guidelines, doctors and patients should strongly consider chiropractic care for the treatment of acute and chronic back pain, says the American Chiropractic Association (ACA).

"As shown in the literature, chiropractic spinal manipulation is a very effective treatment for low-back pain and other musculoskeletal injuries," says ACA President Glenn Manceaux, DC. "Furthermore, doctors of chiropractic have broad diagnostic skills and are trained to recommend therapeutic and rehabilitative exercises, which can help patients prevent future injuries."

In the guidelines proposed by Chou et. al., researchers recommended that patients whose low-back pain -- a pervasive condition affecting millions of Americans each year -- does not improve with self-care "should consider the addition of nonpharmacological therapies with proven benefits" -- including chiropractic spinal manipulation.

"If your back pain is not resolving quickly, visit your doctor of chiropractic," Dr. Manceaux recommends. "Many chiropractic patients with relatively long-lasting or recurring back pain feel improvement shortly after starting chiropractic treatment. The relief and return to function they experience after a month of treatment is often greater than after seeing a family physician."

Doctors of chiropractic -- commonly referred to as chiropractors -- practice a hands-on, drug-free approach to health care that includes patient examination, diagnosis and treatment. Spinal manipulation is the primary form of treatment performed by chiropractors. In fact, chiropractors perform 94 percent of all spinal manipulative therapy in the United States.

Chiropractic is widely recognized as one of t
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