July 22, 2021 (Falls Church, VA) This week, the Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA) acknowledged that low back pain is one of the most common reasons people seek care. They further reported that the American College of Physicians advice that for acute and subacute low back pain, patients “should stay active as tolerated” and begin with nondrug treatments. The listed options they recommend include spinal manipulation. The patient recommendation goes a step further and states that ‘patients with chronic low back pain, priority should be given to nondrug treatments combined with exercise. The ‘therapies’ mentioned include spinal manipulation. While nondrug options for care were listed, no specific professions were listed in the resource page.

The International Chiropractors Association (ICA) applauds JAMA for helping advance the public awareness on the value of nondrug options for low back pain. This is an integral action for the conventional medical community in overcoming their over reliance on prescribing pain medicine including opioids. The non-drug approach in particular spinal manipulation, which chiropractors refer to as spinal adjustments focuses on understanding and addressing the root causes of pain, rather than simply suppressing the symptom of pain through drugs. Research evidence validates that when consumers first avenue of care is chiropractic, the likelihood they will end up with an opioid prescription is reduced by half.

Upon reviewing the JAMA Patient Page, ICA Board Chair, Dr. Selina Sigafoose Jackson stated, “Every day world-wide ICA Doctors of Chiropractic see patients who enter their offices with varying levels of low back pain. Our chiropractors use their extensive training and experience to remove the subluxation through the chiropractic adjustment. By removing the interference of the subluxation, the body’s own innate ability is increased and able to create an environment within to heal and ultimately experience less pain. This is why the ICA focuses forward every day to build a stronger tomorrow for chiropractic and chiropractors worldwide.”

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