According to two research studies published in 2011, there is solid evidence in support of the value of maintenance care. The first, published in Spine, concluded that “SMT (spinal manipulation therapy) is effective for the treatment of chronic non-specific LBP (low-back pain).” To obtain long- term benefit, this study suggested maintenance spinal manipulations after the initial intensive manipulative therapy treating an acute condition.1
The second study, published in the Journal of Occupational and Environmental Medicine, provides additional support for the value of chiropractic maintenance care for post injury low-back pain patients. The study cohort was 894 injured workers, who were followed for one year.
Physical therapy was shown to have the highest percentage of reinjured workers, followed by those receiving standard medical treatment (or no treatment at all).2
“The lowest incidence of repeat injury was found among those workers who had received chiropractic maintenance care.”
An excellent example would be if you own a car or a furnace, the notion that you need to perform regular chiropractic maintenance raises no objection. The car engine needs oil and coolant to run properly; the furnace needs cleanings and new filters to operate efficiently. But when it comes to our bodies, we often wait until we can tell something is wrong before acting on it. We believe that how we feel directly ties to how healthy we are, and even after something starts to hurt, we put off doing anything in the hope that it will go away on its own.
You are worth more than this. Your body is designed to take care of itself, but when you neglect your care, those healing powers diminish. Chiropractic maintenance serves to keep your back and spine straight and aligned over time. This, in turn, frees your body’s magnificent central nervous system to protect and heal you from within.
In a summary of study findings published at ChiroACCESS, the results of surveys given to chiropractors have verified the profession’s belief in the value of maintenance care. The authors conclude: “Furthermore, during the last decade there have been a dozen peer reviewed papers on the subject…it is heartening to see medical research corroborate the studies and beliefs of the chiropractic profession.”3
