There is interest among chiropractic clinicians and researchers to integrate chiropractic care into the standard health care system, particularly for lower back pain. One of the best ways to show that chiropractic care can improve the standard health care system is to gather a group of patients who are prone to chronic lower back pain, and all accessing the same health care system to avoid potential differences in treatment between systems.

One group of researchers rose to this challenge by selecting patients from the largest health care system in the United States (with more than 1,200 facilities across the entire country), the Veterans Health Administration (VA) system. Read further to see the difference that chiropractic care can make for treating those who suffer from chronic lower back pain.

Lower Back Pain Issues

We often picture our active duty service members as being in peak physical condition and able to handle the rigors of combat under extremely difficult conditions. While all of this is certainly true, there are certain unique physical stressors that military personnel must handle that can place additional stress on the lower back.

Most notably, a standard military backpack currently weighs 135 pounds, most of which must be borne on the shoulders. In addition, a standard flak jacket can weigh up to 30 pounds (depending on the soldier’s job in the unit). Furthermore, a soldier may be required to bear the weight of an injured soldier in their unit, and also to carry that soldier’s gear. The end result of this much weight is chronic lower back pain.

What Does the Research Say?

The researchers selected a group of 750 active-duty service members who suffered from chronic lower back pain. As part of their care at their local VA hospital, they all received treatment that included physical therapy and drugs to treat pain, stiffness, and inflammation.

For the study, half of the patients also received chiropractic care in the form of exercises, cold and heat treatment, and spinal manipulation to re-align the vertebrae lower back and surrounding structures. Those who received chiropractic care received up to 12 treatments over the six weeks of the study period.

At the end of the six weeks, the patients who received chiropractic care in addition to standard medical treatment reported greater improvement in back pain and lower levels of disability compared to those who did not receive chiropractic care. On average, those who underwent chiropractic care reported their pain was 1.1 points lower on a 1-10 pain scale than those who only received standard care.

Although it is true that this study only focused on a very specific type of patients who suffer from low back pain, it does show some promise that making chiropractic part of standard medical care may help provide more effective treatment for chronic lower back pain.