Research will often change the course of clinical practice. However, clinical practice is often way ahead of the research. The reason is that thousands of clinicians making observations over time can come to some very right conclusions. Case in point is a recent study in Spine (Jan 2011) on the value of maintained spinal manipulation for chronic low back pain. The researchers out of a university in Egypt concluded that patients who received maintenance care over a ten month period had better outcomes than those who stopped treatment after one month of care.
This study is a validation of what chiropractors in the field have observed for many years. Patients who receive maintenance adjustments have better long term results. The researchers are finally coming to the same conclusion when it comes to chronic low back pain. We'll have to wait for them to study maintenance care for other common chronic spinal conditions which practicing chiropractors have seen benefit from maintenance care. In the mean time, consider whether your conditions would benefit from maintenance care.
How often should a person receive maintenance adjustments for their spine? Tough question. It depends on many factors including nutrition, stress, occupation, age, exercise, injury history, and other health conditions which may be present. Once your Doctor of Chiropractic has worked with you for a while, they can give you a good treatment schedule that will be beneficial to you. Remember you are a unique individual and what is best for me may not be best for you.
How often do I receive maintenance adjustments? I have been adjusted once per week for the last 25 years. It's worked very well for me.
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