Chiropractic and Medical Care for Low Back Pain Patients

A new study compared the long-term effectiveness of medical and chiropractic care for low back pain and assessed the effectiveness of physical therapy and modalities among patients receiving medical or chiropractic care. A total of 610 low back pain patients were successfully followed for 18 months after being randomly assigned to chiropractic with or without physical modalities, or medical care with or without physical therapy. Among patients not assigned to receive physical therapy or modalities, the improvements in pain and disability and 18-month risk of complete remission were greater in the chiropractic group than in the medical group. Also, compared with medical care only patients, chiropractic and physical therapy patients were much more likely to perceive improvement in their low back symptoms.