Do you want to know the key to lasting back pain relief? It's not staying on your couch, suffering in pain while you wait for it to go away. It's not just doing your daily physical therapy and icing. So what is it?
Exercise therapies are fantastic for musculoskeletal injury, but to get the complete advantages of the physical activity you're going to need to get treatment that corrects misalignments in the muscles plus the spine. That's where your Nashville, TN chiropractor, Dr. Sweeney, can help. If you've injured your back, it is more than likely that you have a spinal misalignment. Stretching and strengthening your back muscles alone won't be adequate to remedy the out-of-place vertebrae. Recent research explains why combining exercise therapy with chiropractic is so worthwhile.
Scientists studied 49 people with chronic back pain who were randomly assigned to get either manual therapy or sham (placebo) treatment. Manual therapies included techniques often employed by Dr. Sweeney, such as chiropractic adjustments and spinal mobilization. Immediately after treatment, patients did exercises like stretching, muscle and motor control workouts, mobility workouts, and strengthening. The participants were treated eight times, with an assessment after three and six months.
Right away after treatment, patients receiving chiropractic care plus exercise experienced greater reductions in pain compared to the placebo plus exercise group. The advantage seen in the treatment room persisted at the three and six-month follow-up sessions. The manual therapy participants had reduced disability and a trend towards reduced pain scores compared to the placebo group. These results indicate that a blended treatment of chiropractic and exercise could be better than exercise therapy alone for back aches.
So if you'd prefer complete relief of back pain, pick up the phone and give our office in Nashville, TN a call. After a few sessions with Dr. Sweeney, you'll wonder why you didn't call sooner!
Balthazard P, et al. Manual therapy followed by specific active exercises versus a placebo followed by specific active exercises on the improvement of functional disability in patients with chronic non specific low back pain: a randomized controlled trial. BMC Musculoskeletal Disorders 2012; 13: 162.
