State of Oregon: Chiropractic Best for Low Back Pain

It's official; State of Oregon evidence based clinical guidelines for the evaluation and management of low back pain recommend spinal manipulation as THE only nonpharmaceutical treatment for acute lower back pain. The Oregon Health Authority collaborated with several well known state health agencies to reach this conclusion including the newly formed Oregon Health Commission. The Oregon Chiropractic Association repeatedly gave written and oral arguments/testimony that the original draft guidelines placed too much emphasis on drugs and surgery. A close review of the original study info re4lative to the most common lower back pain complaints of lumbar radiculoipathy, sciatica, numbness and lumbar stenosis reveal this. So in the past if an MRI or special tests revealed nerve root impingement or stenosis the thinking led the clinician into a surgical or otherwise invasive procedure without the contingency for conservative chiropractic care. This is not only a costly decision but also one in flawed thinking.
As chiropractors we are taught to think DO The Body No Harm and initiate low force conservative chiropractic procedures, and then if then not successful additional protocols should be discussed ie; acupuncture, physical therapy etc. Furthermore once surgery has been performed and proves to be unsuccessful theirs no going back and at that point any additional modalities are far less likely to be successful for long term relief for the patient.
As director of Mission Village Chiropractic here in Mission Valley San Diego are success lies in the honest approach to treatment and advising the patient on what to expect when treatment is initiated and conversely how chiropractic may not be the right choice considering the extent of disc damage, osteoarthritis or severe scoliosis that is present.
My advice to a patient that HAS BEEN TOLD THAT SURGERY IS NECESSARY after only 1 diagnostic test has been performed is to seek an additional opinion and weigh the options at that time because often there is no second bite of the apple.