At Body Logic we find it quite appropriate that the “big move” is occurring during National Chiropractic Health Month! In honor of celebrating the great results chiropractic care can provide, below are a few specifically selected facts provided by the American Chiropractic Association. We love what we do and want you to know why!
PATIENT SATISFACTION AND CLINICAL EFFECTIVENESS
- Chiropractic outperformed all other back pain treatments, including prescription medication, yoga, pilates, and over-the-counter medication therapies.
- Doctors of Chiropractic are the highest rated healthcare practitioners for low-back pain treatment above physical therapists (PTs), specialist physicians/MDs (ex: neurosurgeons, neurologists, orthopedic surgeons), and primary care physicians/MDs (ex: family or internal medicine).
- With prescription drug abuse now classified as an epidemic in the United States and the number of spinal fusions soaring 500% over the last decade, the essential services provided by Doctors of Chiropractic represent a primary care approach for the prevention, diagnosis, and conservative management of back pain and spinal disorders that can often enable patients to reduce or avoid the need for these riskier treatments.
- A systematic review in 2010 found that most studies suggest spinal manipulation achieves equal or superior improvement in pain and function when compared with other commonly used interventions for short, intermediate, and long-term follow-up.
- The American College of Physicians and the American Pain Society jointly recommended in 2007 that clinicians consider spinal manipulation for patients who do not improve with self-care options.
- The likelihood of surgery for workers with back injuries when the first point of contact is a surgeon/MD is 42.7% whereas when the first point of contact is a chiropractic physician/DC is only 1.5%.
KEY FACTS AND FIGURES
- There are 77,000 Doctors of Chiropractic (DCs) in the United States who are required to pass a series of four national board exams and be state licensed. Roughly another 3,000 DCs work in academic and management roles.
- It is estimated that Doctors of Chiropractic (DCs) treat over 27 million Americans (adult and children) annually.
- Doctors of Chiropractic are educated in nationally accredited, four-year doctoral graduate school programs though a curriculum that includes a minimum of 4,200 hours of classroom, laboratory and clinical internship, with an average DC program equivalent in classroom hours to allopathic (MD) and osteopathic (DO) medical schools.
- Doctors of Chiropractic are designated as physician-level providers in the vast majority of states and the federal Medicare program.
For more facts and additional information about chiropractic care, please visit www.ACAtoday.org.