A study by two esteemed researchers, including one from Harvard medical school, have determined that chiropractic adjustments are more beneficial and cost effective for neck and back pain, than any other treatments or modalities.
Our findings in combination with existing US studies published in peer-reviewed scientific journals suggest that chiropractic care for the treatment of low back and neck pain is likely to achieve equal or better health outcomes at a cost that compares very favorably to most therapies that are routinely covered in US health benefit plans. As a result, the addition of chiropractic coverage for the treatment of low back and neck pain at prices typically payable in US employer-sponsored health benefit plans will likely increase value-for-dollar by improving clinical outcomes and either reducing total spending (neck pain) or increasing total spending (low back pain) by a smaller percentage than clinical outcomes improve.
This is great news for chiropractors, patients, employers, and the government if we are trying to find cost effective ways to help people being treated with neck and back conditions.
Truthfully, it is difficult to be less beneficial and cost effective than surgical counterparts, which pose a serious risk factor with an extremely low success rate, and cost $55,000-100,000 to perform.
As important as these studies are, I sometimes wonder if the results are simply falling on deaf ears, since the only places I read or see these studies are from chiropractic sources.
I’d love to believe these excellent results would start to change the care protocols of physicians for patients with neck pain and back pain, but don’t currently see it happening.