Chiropractic treatment, along with home exercise and advice (HEA) may help alleviate leg pain linked to back problems, suggests a new study.
Published in the Annals of Internal Medicine, the study shows that people with back-related leg pain (BRLP) received more benefits when engaging in spinal manipulative therapy (SMT) with HEA, as opposed to applying the latter alone.
“For patients with BRLP, SMT plus HEA was more effective than HEA alone after 12 weeks, but the benefit was sustained only for some secondary outcomes at 52 weeks,” wrote the study.
Benefits included lesser pain in the lower back, leg pain and disability, following a 12-week treatment.
"Prior to this study, SMT was considered a viable treatment option of what is known as 'uncomplicated low back pain,' which is low back pain without radiating pain to the leg," study authors Roni Evans and Gert Bronfort, from the University of Minnesota in Minneapolis, commented.
Respondents of the study were individuals 21 years and above who have BRLP for a minimum of four weeks. Among the 192 respondents, 191 or 99 percent gave follow-up data to researchers in 12 weeks (short term) and 179 or 93 percent in 52 weeks (long term).
All the respondents with subacute or chronic BRLP were grouped randomly into two: one receiving SMT and HEA, the other receiving HEA alone.
To join the HEA program, the respondents worked with a personal trainer, exercise therapists and chiropractors. The program was administered in four one-hour, one-on-one patient visits and also included practice and instruction to improve mobility and intensify trunk endurance.
The study emphasizes that no serious unfavorable events or deaths related to said treatment occurred.
Spinal manipulation, however, could pose dangers to people if there was no clear diagnosis, physiatrist Christopher Standaert, MD, who specializes in nonoperative spine and musculoskeletal care at University of Washington in Seattle, likewise said.
Meanwhile, Bronfort noted that patients could work on self-management techniques as long as no serious medical complications are seen. He advised activities such as short walks and frequently changing positions.
Regardless, Bronfort also advised that people with severe pain would already need an osteopath, physical therapist or chiropractor for spinal manipulation, even possibly without any need for medications.
The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services served as the primary funding source of the study titled Spinal Manipulation and Home Exercise With Advice for Subacute and Chronic Back-Related Leg Pain: A Trial With Adaptive Allocation.
