Do you want to know the secret of effective back pain relief? It's not resting on your couch, suffering in pain while you wait for it to go away. It's not just doing your daily exercise therapy and applying ice packs. So what is it?
Physical therapies are fantastic for musculoskeletal injury, but to get the total effects of the physical activity you have to get therapy that corrects misalignments in the muscles plus the spine. That's where your Gadsden, AL chiropractor, Dr. Tortoriello, can help. If you have hurt your back, it is likely that you have a spinal misalignment. Stretching and strengthening your back muscles alone won't be sufficient to remedy the misaligned vertebrae. Recent research explains why combining exercise therapy with chiropractic is so useful.
Scientists studied 49 men and women with chronic back pain who were randomly assigned to receive either manual therapy or sham (placebo) treatment. Manual therapies consisted of treatments commonly employed by Dr. Tortoriello, such as chiropractic adjustments and spinal mobilization. Directly after treatment, patients did exercises like stretching, muscle and motor control workouts, mobility workouts, and strengthening. The participants were treated eight times, with an evaluation after three and six months.
Immediately after treatment, patients treated with chiropractic plus exercise experienced better pain relief than the placebo plus exercise group. The benefit seen in the treatment room was sustained at the three and six-month follow-up sessions. The chiropractic patients had reduced disability and a trend towards lower pain scores compared to the placebo group. These findings suggest that a combined treatment of chiropractic and exercise could be better than exercise therapy alone for back problems.
So if you want lasting relief of back pain, pick up the phone and give our office in Gadsden, AL a call. After a few visits with Dr. Tortoriello, 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.