An eye-opening article in the Houston Press reports on the veterans coming home from wars in the Middle East, suffering with back pain and sciatica.

Back packs of 80 and 90 and 100 plus pounds that must be carried by on their backs plus the body armor of 30 to 40 pounds is being discussed as a culprit. Amazing that airport baggage over 50 pounds is considered too heavy and charged a surplus fee. Shipping companies charge extra for heavier loads, too. Military men and women carry these heavy loads daily and jump in and out of vehicles according to this article. No wonder lower back pain and leg pain (sciatica) is an issue.

The Veterans Administration does what it can. It seems that a suggestion was bantered around for a "back pain management clinic" to be added to all VA Hospitals. That didn't happen. Chiropractic is supposed to be available in all the VA Hospitals. It's coming slowly, it seems, but has never been in more demand. Chiropractic's non-surgical and non-drug approach may certainly meet the demand because these veterans don't want to take drugs and have surgery if they don't have to. Cox Technic may be the successful back surgery alternative for them.

Cox Technic is poised ready with certified and otherwise trained physicians to meet the demand for back pain relief for US veterans. A few bases even have Cox Tables and physicians on staff who treat the veterans with back pain, and these docs are busy.

We wish our veterans safety, thank them for their service, and hope more of them get access to chiropractic and even Cox Technic Flexion Distraction Spinal Manipulation care for their back pain.

• article on a veteran who did get flexion distraction care
• article reviewing how chiropractic is integrated into VA
• article on current integration of chiropractic into VA

The Canadian healthcare system may demand waittimes for spinal surgery for months or years if emergency intervention is not required. This is a frustration for many patients and the spine surgeons. In the intervening time of pain that takes a patient to his or her physician who then refers him or her to a spine surgeon, many expensive tests like MRI are ordered which may reveal abnormalities that are not of that much consequence but distract the primary care doctor who sends the patient to a surgeon.

“As a screening tool for back pain,” Dr. [Hamilton] Hall said, “MRIs are worse than useless.” Amazingly, "$24-million [is spent] annually on unnecessary MRI and CT scans in Ontario alone."

He explains his frustration as a spine surgeon is seeing patients who don't need his care - which is like 90 out of every 100 patients with back pain. He wants patients who need surgery.

Chiropractic can benefit this problem. Chiropractic physicians can diagnose and treat the 90% of patients who don't need surgery and send the surgical patients to the spine surgeons. Plus chiropractic offers this care at a lower price without always needing the expensive imaging tests for care.

For more details on the Canadian situation, please see the article Canada's Costly Spine Surgeon Backlog. Consider these chiropractic documents that show chiropractic to be

• less expensive than medical care (cost of treatment, hospitalization, compensation payments, lost workdays)  - Phelan
• effective in 29 days and 12 visits for low back pain - Cox
• effective in 13.2 visits for cervical spine - Schliesser/Kruse
• 40% less expensive when care for back pain is started with a chiropractor than a medical doctor - Liliedahl

Chiropractic has a place in healthcare to help patients and the cost of helping patients.

Consider The Cox Technic System of Spinal Pain Management for back pain relief. As a doctor, come to a Cox seminar to learn more. As a patient, consult with a local certified chiropractor for your back pain relief.

Chiropractic and Back Pain. Chiropractic and Neck Pain. Chiropractic and Spine Pain. The public thinks of chiropractic for back pain by and large.

• 33% of 27,810 people chose chiropractors as their treating physician for low back pain in the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey. (NHANE) [in Deyo R: Spine 12(3)]
• Spine care delivery is 60% by the medical model and 40% by the chiropractic model. [Saal, Spine 22(14)]
• The total number of US adults who went to a chiropractor increased 57% from 2000-2003. [Davis, Health Svcs Research 45(3)]
• Paid costs for back pain care started with a chiropractor were 40% less than care started with a MD. [Liliedahl, JMPT 33(9)]

Chiropractic is reknown for its back pain care. Chiropractic has evidence-based technique to relieve and control back pain like Cox Technic.

The federally funded studies document Cox Technic Flexion-Distraction and Decompression's biomechanical effects on the spine as well as its clinical outcomes:

• intradiscal pressure drops to as low as -192mm Hg in the lumbar spine
• 28% widening of the area of the intervertebral canal
• flexion distraction is superior in relieving pain due to radiculopathy (leg pain) compared to medical care. (Gudavalli, Euro Sp J 2006) 
• 29 days and  12 visits are the averages for relief of low back pain when not taking into account specific conditions of back pain. [Cox, Topics in Clinical Chiropractic 1996, 3(3)]
• 13.2 treatments is the average for relief of neck pain radiculopathy. [Schliesser, Kruse, JMPT 26(9)]

Back pain and chiropractic fit together. The chiropractic physician is skilled in the diagnosis, examination and treatment of back pain as well as its prevention with nutrition, exercise and lifestyle choices. The chiropractic back pain research continues to evolve in support. Chiropractic physicians train specially to keep abreast of the latest research and Cox Technic treatment application in seminars. Back pain patients find Cox Technic physicians for their back pain relief when they search the referral directory of certified Cox Technic physicians.

Research leads the way in evidence-based care and in Cox Technic.

Contact Cox Technic if you have any questions.

Guidelines sponsored by the American Pain Society and the American College of Physicians recommends spinal manipulation as an effective treatment option for low back pain.

from Chou, R; Loeser, JD; Owens, DK; Rosenquist, RW; Atlas, SJ; Baisden, J; Carragee, EJ; Grabois, M; Murphy, DR; Resnick, DK; Stanos, SP; Shaffer, WO; Wall, EM:   Interventional Therapies, Surgery, and Interdisciplinary Rehabilitation for Low Back Pain An Evidence-Based Clinical Practice Guideline From the American Pain Society.  SPINE 2009; 34 (10):1066-1077

Cox® Technic (aka flexion-distraction) clinical outcomes published in European Spine Journal. Flexion-Distraction provided more low back pain relief than did medical conservative active exercise. 

Patients with radiculopathy (leg pain) did significantly better with flexion-distraction than active exercise. 

article link: http://www.springerlink.com/content/f32603l877144k77/?p=1ba95a15a905467b8ed4080941ee22e6&pi=4