Recent research reveals how spinal adjustments can significantly reduce dependency on pain medication such as the often prescribed tramadol as well as oxycontin and other pain medications.
Could chiropractic spinal adjustments replace pain pills? Recent research indicates that chiropractic adjustments can significantly alleviate low back pain and reduce the need for tramadol, offering a non-drug option for managing sciatica pain.
The use of opioid drugs for pain control has reached devastating proportions and has resulted in the opioid epidemic. These drugs do nothing to resolve the problem causing the pain and create an entire new problem, dependency and addiction.
Millions of Americans suffer with sciatica, which is an inflammation of the sciatic nerve in the lower back causing pain radiating into the hips and as far down as the feet. Tramadol is a common pain reliever prescribed to manage this pain, but it raises concerns over its long term effects and dependency.
A study published in the respected British Medical Journal reviewed more than 115 million patient records. That’s a lot of people so you can bet that any trends or outcomes from that many people is accurate.
The Results:
The study showed that adults receiving chiropractic spinal adjustments were less likely to be prescribed tramadol in the following year than those patients receiving standard medical care.
Other Studies:
Prior studies have found that chiropractic care reduced the prescriptions of opioid medications. “While previous studies found a reduced likelihood of opioid prescription among those receiving chiropractic care, our study is the first to focus specifically on tramadol,” said Robert Trager, chiropractor and lead author of the study.
68% Less Likely to Get Tramadol:
Over the course of a year those patients who received chiropractic adjustments were 68% less likely to be prescribed Tramadol compared to patients receiving standard medical care.
Think about that! All medications come with risks. This is even more pronounced with powerful pain medications like tramadol. According to the Mayo Clinic tramadol use increases the risks of these common side effects:
- Constipation
- Sweating
- Dizziness
- Hallucinations
- Headaches
- Seizures
- Nausea
- Hypertension
- Anxiety
- Dependence
- Coma
- Breathing problems
- Depression
- And lots more…
Tramadol is felt to be less addictive than more powerful opioids but as you can see, the side effects are no walk in the park. And, that’s only a partial list.
Corrective Chiropractic Care:
What the study fails to assess is what type of chiropractic care works best. As you know with any professional, some are more skilled than others.
Corrective Chiropractic Care is a significant advancement over traditional chiropractic. Traditional chiropractic is focused simply on restoring motion to restricted joints. That can have a powerful short term effect on pain.
Corrective Chiropractic goes farther. It seeks to restore balance and alignment of the spine. With sciatica there is almost always significant misalignment in the pelvis and lower spine that results in bulging of a disc. This puts pressure on the sciatic nerve resulting in the pain radiating down the leg that we call sciatica.
The Life Chiropractic Program
At Life Chiropractic in Grass Valley we take corrective chiropractic and add some very powerful practices to aid in reducing pain and more importantly correcting the imbalance. Our program for people with sciatica includes:
- Corrective Chiropractic Care: to restore balance, alignment, and motion
- Posterior Chain Activation: to stabilize the area with the powerful postural muscles of the posterior chain.
- Spinal Joint Flossing: after motion is restored we need to maintain that newfound balance and mobility.
If you are searching for a chiropractor in Grass Valley or Nevada City consider exploring the program at Life Chiropractic.
You can schedule your initial visit here: Schedule Here