Does Spinal Manipulation Therapy (adjustment) for Chronic Nonspecific Low Back Pain Result in Better Long-Term Outcome?
The answer is …. YES
A controlled study done by researchers at the University of Mansoura, published in Spine Journal 2011 showed that people who continued spinal care after initial treatment phase had improvements in both pain & functional scales.
Whereas, those individuals that stopped care returned to similar levels of pain & dysfunction after 10 months, much like those in the control group.
If you have a look at the Visual Diagram below, you will see the comparison between the Control Group, the Non-Maintained SMT group & the Maintained SMT Group.
It shows how the Non – Maintained SMT Group went back to similar pain score as the Control Group.
Figure 3. Oswestry Disability Score (%) over the 10-month period.
SO WHAT CAN WE TAKE FROM THIS???
- “Spinal Manipulation Therapy is effective for the treatment of chronic nonspecific LBP. To obtain long-term benefit, this study suggests maintenance SM after the initial intensive manipulative therapy” (Senna & Machaly, 2011).
LOOK AFTER YOUR SPINE, IT’S ALWAYS GOT YOUR BACK 🙂
Reference:
Senna, M., & Machaly, S. (2011). Does Maintained Spinal Manipulation Therapy for Chronic Nonspecific Low Back Pain Result in Better Long-Term Outcome?. Spine, 36(18), 1427-1437. doi:10.1097/brs.0b013e3181f5dfe0
