They’re not telling us anything we haven’t known for ages, but it is nice to get the recognition we deserve!

As osteopaths, spinal manipulation is one of the techniques in our toolbox and we use it to treat patients suffering back pain because we see how much it can help. To read more on what we do and how we do it, click here.

The American Medical Association published a review in April 2017 endorsing spinal manipulation as best practice for acute low back pain.  Manipulation was shown to be associated with significant benefits in pain and function for up to 6 weeks.  

This follows published guidelines on low back pain management by the American College of Physicians that recommend first using non-invasive, non-drug treatments, including spinal manipulation, before resorting to drug therapies. We are reaching for pain killer medication far too often to treat our back pain. These medications can have some very nasty side effects in some patients.

This worrying epidemic isn’t confined to the USA.  Here in Australia, pain medication prescription rates are on the rise (see research here).  President of the Australian Association of Musculoskeletal Medicine, Dr. Kisselev, is urging GPs to consider more drug-free treatments, such as manual therapy and exercise, for patients with spinal pain.

There are many misconceptions surrounding spinal manipulation.  This term does not only refer to joint ‘cracking’.  It includes other techniques such as joint mobilisation and muscle manipulation.  Hopefully with this endorsement, some of those myths can be debunked!

If you, your family member or friend is suffering low back pain – before you go reaching for that pain medication – make an appointment with one of our highly qualified Osteopaths (click here) and get your pain treated without the need for potentially harmful drugs.

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