Over the years, we've helped hundreds of people in Arlington recover from back pain, sciatica, and other pain problems.
Do you want to know the trick to lasting back pain relief? It's not staying on your couch, suffering in pain as you wait for it to go away. It's not just doing your day-to-day exercise therapy and applying ice packs. So what is it?
Exercises can be beneficial for musculoskeletal injury, but to get the most out of the exercises, you have to to get care that corrects misalignments in the muscles plus the spine. That's where your Arlington, WA chiropractor, Dr. Ernst, can help. If you've injured your back, it is more than likely that you have a vertebra or two out-of-place. Lengthening and conditioning your back muscles alone won't be sufficient to correct the out-of-place vertebrae. Recent research explains why combining exercise therapy with chiropractic is so advantageous.
Investigators studied 49 patients with chronic back pain who were randomly assigned to receive either manual therapy or sham (placebo) treatment. Manual therapies included treatments commonly used by Dr. Ernst, like spinal adjustments and chiropractic mobilization. Directly after treatment, patients did exercises like stretches, muscle and motor control exercises, mobility workouts, and conditioning. The clients were treated eight times, with an assessment after three and six months.
Right away after treatment, patients receiving chiropractic care plus exercise experienced better pain relief than the placebo plus exercise group. The advantage seen in the treatment room continued at the three and six-month follow-up appointments. The manual therapy participants had lower disability and a pattern of reduced pain scores compared to the sham group. These results indicate that a blended treatment of chiropractic and exercise could be better than exercise therapy alone for back problems.
So if you'd prefer total relief of back pain, pick up the phone and give our office in Arlington, WA a call. After a few sessions with Dr. Ernst, you'll wonder why you didn't call earlier!
Balthazard P, et al. Manual therapy followed by specific active exercises versus a placebo followed by specific active exercises on the improvement of functional disability in patients with chronic non specific low back pain: a randomized controlled trial. BMC Musculoskeletal Disorders 2012; 13: 162.