When sports chiropractors first appeared at the Olympic Games in the 1980s, it was alongside individual athletes who had experienced the benefits of chiropractic care in their training and recovery processes at home. Fast forward to Paris 2024, where chiropractic care was available in the polyclinic for all athletes, and the attitude has now evolved to recognize that “every athlete deserves access to sports chiropractic."
Share the Power of Chiropractic With Your Patients
Start the new year by connecting with your patients on a deeper level. One way is by communicating the power of chiropractic as demonstrated by research. Here are a few study summaries, written toward the perspective of the patient, to get you started:
Chiropractic for Babies: Mother Approved
“Babies can't tell us how important chiropractic is for their health and wellness, so let's listen to what their mothers are saying. A survey of mothers whose infants received chiropractic care reveals high levels of satisfaction relative to improvements in infant behavioral issues such as feeding problems, excessive crying, sleep issues, problems with supine sleep position (on the back; the recommended position to minimize SIDS risk), time performing prone positioning (on stomach; an important position for developing early motor skills ) and restricted cervical (neck) range of motion. Overall, mothers were overwhelmingly satisfied with the impact chiropractic care had on their infants.”
Source: Journal of Manipulative and Physiological Therapeutics
Avoid Surgery With Chiropractic
“Low back pain is common, but how it's treated varies considerably. Unfortunately, too many people skip chiropractic when they could be enjoying the proven benefits – and avoiding the risks associated with pain medication; or even worse, back surgery.
The authors of a new study hypothesized that adult patients with newly diagnosed lumbar disc herniation or lumbosacral radiculopathy (both of which are common causes of low back pain) who received chiropractic spinal manipulative therapy would be less likely to ultimately undergo lumbar discectomy (a surgical procedure) compared to similarly diagnosed adults receiving non-chiropractic care.
Patients receiving CSMT were significantly less likely to undergo discectomy at both one- and two-year follow-up compared with patients receiving other care.”
Source: BMJ Open
42 Times Safer With Chiropractic
“What's one of many important reasons to visit your doctor of chiropractic instead of a medical doctor if you're suffering from back pain? It's a whopping 42 times safer. Here's why: A new study compared the safety of seniors (65-84 years old) using spinal manipulative therapy (SMT) with those using opioid analgesic therapy (OAT) for chronic low back pain (cLBP). In reviewing five years of data, the study authors found that ‘the adjusted rate of ADE [adverse drug events] was more than 42 times higher for initial choice of OAT versus initial choice of SMT.’"
Source: Spine
Stay Close to Your Chiropractor
“Researchers studying Medicare patients with spine conditions who relocated at least once during a five-year period made a fascinating discovery: Older adults who moved to an area with higher chiropractic accessibility (in other words, easier access to the services of a chiropractor) spent less on spine care than seniors who moved to an area with lower chiropractic accessibility (more difficult access to chiropractic services).
Easier access to a chiropractor presumably meant an easier time managing their spine condition with chiropractic, rather than medical care. In fact, researchers noted that costs for medical evaluation and management, and diagnostic imaging and testing, were impacted (higher or lower) when access to chiropractic was higher or lower, respectively.”
Source: American Journal of Managed Care
Editor’s Note: Summaries appeared originally in the patient e-newsletter To Your Health. For more information and to sign up your patients to receive To Your Health, click here.