50+ Lifestyles

The #1 Back Pain Relief Solution – Who’s Keeping It From YOU And Why

“What Research Has Proven To Be The #1 Back Pain Relief Solution – Who’s Keeping It From YOU And Why!!!”

By Robert J. Scranton, D.C.
Fibromyalgia Centers of America

This month we are going to talk about back pain. Actually, we are going to talk about the treatment for back pain that over 30 scientific studies, published in Medical Journals, have led to the conclusion that the average patient receiving this treatment is better off than 54-85% of the patients receiving other common and accepted back pain treatments.

What’s more, 14 of these studies showed this treatment cost less AND was up to twice as effective. 17 studies showed a decrease in disability at work and less back pain symptoms. The worst part is… Many Of These StudiesWere Done In The 80’s!

So what is this treatment and why haven’t you heard about it yet? Better yet, why isn’t this treatment plastered all over the front pages and headlining the nightly news? How could something this good…and PROVEN to be this good…be kept out of the spotlight for so long?

Don’t worry, I’m going to answer all those questions. But first, to REALLY understand what’s going on, we have to look at some REAL facts about back pain…

Here are some staggering low back pain (LBP) statistics:

1. 80-90% of all adults will suffer from LBP at some point in their life.
2. LBP is the leading cause of disability in people under 45 years of age.
3. LBP is the second leading cause of visits to doctors’ offices.
4. LBP is the third leading reason for hospital admissions.
5. Annual costs of back pain in the U.S. range from $20-$75 billion, and as much as $100 billion worldwide.
6. According to Met Life Insurance statistics, the average back treated medically without surgery costs $7,210, and the average back treated surgically costs $13,990.
7. Statistics indicate that 15-20% of the population has LBP in any given year…approximately 23 million cases.

So, here’s a question for you…do all epidemics kill? Answer: No, and it’s a good thing they don’t. Why? Well, if they did, most of us would be dead from this back pain epidemic.

Onward…Before we get to the #1 treatment, let’s talk about other “common” treatments and the facts about how good they REALLY are.

The first is anti-inflammatory drugs…or NSAIDs. These drugs, such as Tylenol, Motrin, Aleve and Advil are often the first and most common treatment for back pain. Well, let’s see what two prominent medical doctors have to say about them:

Dr. Julian Whitaker, M.D., “In our attempt to escape the throbbing of an occasional headache, the muscular ache of being a “weekend warrior,” or back and neck pain, Americans spend over $6.6 billion each year on prescription and over-the-counter pain relievers. But we do so at tremendous cost to our health. These drugs can damage the stomach, liver, kidneys, and even some of the tissues they are designed to support…

Aspirin, Ibuprofen, and other NSAID’s which are sometimes taken on a daily basis by arthritis sufferers, actually hasten degeneration of the joint by inhibiting cartilage synthesis and accelerating cartilage destruction.”

Dr. Joseph Mercola, M.D., Department of Health Policy and Management, John’s Hopkins School of Hygiene and Public Health, “Researchers say aspirin and related drugs kill almost as many people every year as AIDS and are responsible for a silent epidemic. About 26 billion over-the-counter tablets are consumed each year alone and the number of deaths caused by medicines is large. Research estimates that approximately 16,500 deaths occur annually in the U.S. from ulcer related complications associated with their use. If those deaths were given their own category, the toxic effects of NSAID drugs would constitute the 15th most common cause of death in the United States. NSAIDs are probably the most dangerous drugs that medicine uses because of their widespread use. As a group, they probably account for the largest amount of deaths of any drug group.”

Bottom line about NSAID drugs: They kill 16,500 people every year and damage the joints they are supposed to treat. Need I say more?

On to the next treatment…surgery. I’m just going to give you ONE statistic about surgery. Why only one? After you read it… you will know.

According to the official Clinical Practice Guidelines put out by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services…

“Surgery Has Been Found To Be Helpful In Only 1 In 100 Cases Of Low Back Problems… Even Having A Lot Of Back Pain Does Not, By Itself, Mean You Need Surgery.”

If only 1% of back problems are helped with surgery…is it really worth the risk of infection, paralysis or even death?

OK, enough with the bad news already! What have all those studies I talked about shown to be the best, safest and least expensive treatment for back pain?

Since you might not believe it coming from me, I’m going to give you one more quote. This one is from Pran Manga, PhD, medical economist from Ontario Ministry of Health who studied this subject extensively.

Here’s what he concluded, “There is an overwhelming body of evidence indicating that Chiropractic management of LBP is more cost-effective than medical management… Chiropractic management is greatly superior to medical management in terms of scientific validity, safety, cost-effectiveness and patient satisfaction.”

There you have it. The only problem is, Dr. Manga published his findings back in 1993… so why haven’t you heard this before?

Easy answer: Profit!

Take a look at the stats again. The average “medical non-surgical back” costs $7,210. The average “surgical back” costs $13,990. And remember, $6.6 BILLION… that’s with a “B”… is being spent every year on drugs. That’s the REAL bottom line. After all, whose commercials pay for the news you watch every night anyway?

So next time you have an aching back, sore neck, or headache… here’s something for you to remember:

Chiropractic FIRST, Drugs SECOND, Surgery LAST!