Question: What’s your take on chiropractic treatments and massage for back pain? Do they work?
Dr. Hibberd's answer:
Chiropractic treatments and massage are physical therapies that do work for back pain relief when properly prescribed and supervised. Just don’t be deceived into thinking your heart disease or allergies are going to improve with chiropractic manipulation. Some chiropractic beliefs are at odds with conventional medicine’s evidence based recommendations.
In many case, proper physical therapy can strengthen muscles and provide some measure of prevention for those with chronic pain. Usually serious back disorders are initially managed by physicians who diagnose and prescribe physical and occupational therapy as a part of a pain-management plan in injured, at risk, or symptomatic patients. Physician orders for physical therapists are used to guide (physical and occupational) treatment through a team approach to manage patients.
A physical therapist must work under a physician order and direction, and is not licensed to work independently. Chiropractors may offer a similar service without requiring supervision by a medical doctor by virtue of their own independent state licensing requirements. Chiropractors can also play an important role in rehabilitation for physician-supervised sports teams.
But unlike medical doctors who are regulated by State Medical Licensing Boards, chiropractors have their own licensing regulations independent of medical doctors and generally do not work as unsupervised members of hospital staff.
I usually recommend a physician consultation when treatments such as physical therapy or chiropractic treatment is being considered, simply to be sure the diagnosis and management plan is reasonable and sensible, and that no underlying conditions are overlooked. Always seek another opinion if you ever have concern regarding the safety of a proposed treatment.
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