Lost
Time From Work
Time loss or disability from work is an immense problem in terms
of human suffering and economic impact. Few health problems are
more costly in these two areas than that of low back pain. The
only disorder to cause more time loss from work than low back pain
is the common cold. Most people would guess that heart disease
is the leading cause of chronic incapacity and disability from
work in adults. However, in adults under the age of 45, low back
pain is the leading cause.
The economic impact of low back pain is staggering. The annual
cost of treating low back pain is about 6 billion dollars. The
total cost of the disorder is estimated at 20 billion dollars per
year figuring the cost of the 93 million lost workdays every year.
Work injuries to the lower back are two and a half times more common
than the next most frequent type of work-related injury. If there
is a condition for which effective treatment has a major potential
to impact the American working population, it is low back pain.
Perhaps the most impressive results in treating work disability
from chronic low back pain were obtained in a research study at
the Low-Back Pain Clinic at the University Hospital at the University
of Saskatchewan in Canada. Medical and chiropractic researchers
jointly studied 283 patients chronically disabled from work by
low back pain. The group had been disabled from work an average
of seven years before entering the study and had extensive unsuccessful
medical treatment. All patients received chiropractic manipulation
at the clinic as the primary object of the study. Following chiropractic
treatment, 71 percent of these patients recovered sufficiently
to return to work. These were impressive results when compared
to
other forms
of treatment. Dr. J. R. Gilbert, Professor of Family Medicine at
McMaster University in Canada, states that after being present
for more than one year, low back disorders have less than a 15
percent chance of being resolved.
The best treatment to keep acute pain from becoming chronic and
ongoing is chiropractic. However, if back pain and disability have
become
chronic and ongoing, chiropractic is still the best bet.
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