I have neck and low back pain.  What should I do?

For most medical conditions, the specialist to visit is clear.  If you suffer from kidney stones, asthma, breast cancer, hypertension, skin cancer, arm fracture or covid-19, your health care provider can quickly treat or refer.  There is a guideline for diagnosis and treatment.  But the diagnosis and treatment for spine pain is like the “Wild West.”  What specialist should I visit?  A primary care doctor, a physical therapist, an orthopedist, a neurologist, a pain doctor, an acupuncturist, a massage therapist, or a chiropractor.  There is no clear and accepted path.  It can be confusing.   If spine pain were an infrequent and inconsequential ailment the lack of accepted guidelines would be minor.  But spine pain is a leading cause of disability, a major medical Medicare cost, and a leading cause of opioid addiction.  Furthermore, the prevalence of chronic low back pain sufferers is approximately 23%.

The treatment for spine pain caused by infection, fracture, osteoporosis, and tumor is clear.  But an estimated 95% of spine pain sufferers are diagnosed as unspecific back pain meaning none of the above.   Who should treat and diagnose?  This is where chiropractic shines.  Chiropractic knows how to treat non-specific back pan.

Medical care required 20% more time and physical therapy required 239% more time to treat back pain compared to chiropractic.

Opioid prescription charges are 74% lower for chiropractic patients when compared to other therapies.

Patient rate chiropractic with a 96% favorable outcome.

Since medicine diagnoses most low back pain as non-specific (55-90%) and chiropractic know how to treat non-specific back pain with excellent results, the choice of which specialist to diagnose and treat is clear – the chiropractor.