Do you want to know the secret of lasting back pain relief? It's not staying on your couch, suffering in pain as you wait for it to go away. It's not just doing your day-to-day physical therapy and icing. So what is it?
Physical therapies are wonderful for musculoskeletal injury, but to get the total rewards of the stretching and strengthening exercises you're going to need to get treatment that corrects misalignments in the muscles plus the spine. That's where your Middleburg Heights, OH chiropractor, Dr. Baker , can help. If you have hurt your back, it is more than likely that you have a spinal misalignment. Stretching and strengthening your back muscles alone won't be enough to remedy the out-of-place vertebrae. One recent study explains why combining physical therapy with chiropractic is so beneficial.
Researchers studied 49 patients with chronic back pain who were randomly assigned to get either manual therapy or sham (placebo) treatment. Manual therapies consisted of treatments regularly employed by Dr. Baker , like spinal adjustments and spinal mobilization. Immediately after treatment, patients did exercises like stretching, muscle and motor control workouts, mobility exercises, and strengthening. The participants were treated eight times, with an evaluation after three and six months.
Immediately after treatment, patients receiving manual therapy plus exercise experienced better pain relief than the placebo plus exercise group. The benefit seen in the treatment room was maintained at the three and six-month follow-up appointments. The manual therapy participants had reduced disability and a pattern of lower pain scores compared to the placebo group. These findings indicate that a combined treatment of chiropractic and exercise could be better than exercise therapy alone for back pain.
So if you'd like comprehensive relief of back pain, pick up the phone and give our office in Middleburg Heights, OH a call. After a few visits with Dr. Baker , 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.
Dr. Robb Baker