When to Have Back Surgery and When to See a Chiropractor Instead

Bottom Line:
Many people think that surgery is the ultimate once-and-for-all “fix” for a problem area of their spine that has been injured.

They may believe that the answer to the question of when to have back surgery is if they’ve been living with it for more than a month or so.

And while in a very small percentage of back pain cases surgery has reportedly provided some level of relief… It’s also true that the permanent changes that surgery makes to your anatomy can cause a host of new problems to appear, and that’s in addition to the inherent risks that come along with such invasive procedures.

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The Risky Business of Spinal Injections

Bottom Line:
If you’ve suffered from pain in your arm or leg, it could be caused by a spinal disc pressing on one of your nerves. If a medical doctor recognizes a pinched nerve on your MRI, they might refer you for a spinal injection. While this seems like a normal process, new research has begun to show that spinal injections aren’t very effective at treating back pain, and the risks may far outweigh the rewards. Keep reading to discover a better path towards relief.

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Using Medication Off-Label and Why You Should Care

Bottom Line:
Think of the most recent pharmaceutical commercial you watched. Do you remember that list of possible side effects and complications you heard – everything from diarrhea to death? Believe it or not, any of those crazy side effects and complications are to be expected when a medication is prescribed “on-label,” or for a particular condition as approved by the FDA. Of course, medications can also be prescribed by your doctor for any number of conditions that are not specifically on that FDA approved list. In other words, medication can be prescribed “off-label,” and it probably wouldn’t surprise you to know that using any medication “off-label” can increase your risk of experiencing even more side effects outside of those crazy commercial lists. (more…)

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Shot or Not: Injections for Spine Pain?

Bottom Line:
You probably know someone who has received a recommendation from their medical doctor to undergo a spinal injection to treat their neck or back pain. Maybe you’ve been down this road yourself! What you may not know is that recent research indicates patients should think twice before scheduling that next shot. Not only have spinal injections been shown to increase the risk of experiencing a spinal fracture afterwards by 21%, but also, they do not provide as much pain relief as Chiropractic adjustments. That’s right – researchers have found that Chiropractic care can offer more significant relief than riskier treatments like spinal injections. (more…)

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