Cost Effectiveness of Chiropractic Care For Low Back Pain

Low back pain is one of the major causes for lost working days in the UK. It is the second
most common cause for sick leave in workers generally - and the primary cause for those
with manual jobs.
We only have statistics for working people who suffer from back pain but what about those
who do not show up on these statistics for e!ample mothers with young children or stay at
home carers for others with disabilities" #ecoming incapacitated with back pain is even
more costly for them in terms of the effect on those for whom they care.
$here have been many surveys on the cost effectiveness as well as the effectiveness of
%hiropractic. in countries such as the United &tates where primary health care is not free at
the point of delivery. 'ere in the UK though there are other considerations to add to the
mi!. $rue ('& care is free
&ome employers are now offering free %hiropractic care to their employees as they are
finding that this saves them money in lost production the cost of sick pay and so on. &taff of
employers who provide private medical insurance are able to access %hiropractic treatment
at no additional cost.
)or self-employed people for whom time really is money lost working days are something
they can ill-afford and their back pain can be crippling both physically and financially.
%hiropractic is a safe and effective drug-free treatment method so it saves money on
prescription medications and repeated visits to *+s tying up their time. If the problem is
allowed to progress to the point of needing &urgery the cost to the ('& is huge. The
Evidence For The Cost Effectiveness of Chiropractic
$he ,--. #/0 1#23/1 $rial 4#ack pain 2!ercise and /anipulation5 showed that adding
%hiropractic spinal manipulation and appropriate e!ercises to *+ care resulted in lower
overall treatment costs and more benefits to the patient than *+ care alone. $heir
recommendation was that e!ercise and manipulation 6provided cost effective additions to
general practice6. $he greatest difference in the benefit to patients was seen at the twelve
month mark in patients who had received spinal manipulation with a follow-up e!ercise plan.
3n e!tract from a report on the /anga study conducted with 7,7 patients in 899: shows
that patients who sought %hiropractic help for a back pain problem within the first seven
days had better outcomes than a similar group who had physiotherapy.
$he %roft report on a &outh /anchester study of .9- men and women in the 8: - ;< age
group showed that 9-= of people with back pain had stopped visiting their *+ within three
months of their initial consultation. 'owever when these patients were surveyed a year
later only ,<= would say that they had recovered completely - most were still e!periencing
substantial pain and disability. >ne could deduce from this that people just 1gave up1 -
believing that back pain was something they had to live with because the medical care they
had been given just did not work.
The Evidence Is Clear
%hiropractic is a cost effective way of treating low back pain. It could get you out of pain
more ?uickly reduce the number of days you need to take off work and can facilitate a more
speedy return to normal daily activities.
3s the %roft report states
6Low back pain should be viewed as a chronic problem with an untidy pattern of grumbling
symptoms and periods of relative freedom from pain and disability interspersed with acute
episodes e!acerbations and recurrences.6
In terms of long-term outcomes it is clear that taking early action and visiting your
%hiropractor when symptoms strike rather than putting up with them and receiving regular
maintenance %hiropractic care to minimi@e the risk of further episodes of pain is by far the
best option.
&o don1t delay call us on -89A, :A88:: today - you do not need to put up with the
misery of back pain.
httpBCCwww.ncbi.nlm.nih.govCpmcCarticlesC+/%,:<7AC
httpBCCjournals.lww.comCspinejournalC3bstractC899:C-9-8-C>neDEearD)ollowDupD%ompariso
nDofDtheD%ostDand.8A.asp!
httpBCCwww.e!press.co.ukCnewsChealthC.7;<:-C#ack-pain-sufferers-could-be-spared-their-
agony-new-medical-advice-reveals
httpBCCwww.bmj.comCcontentC7,9C;.;9C87;;
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