Low back pain can emanate from many anatomical locations (as well as a combination of locations), which always makes it interesting when a patient asks, “…doc, where in my back is my pain coming from?”

In context of an office visit, we take an accurate history and perform our physical exam to try to reproduce symptoms to give us clues as to what tissue(s) may be the primary pain generators. In spite of our strong intent to be accurate, did you know, regardless of the doctor type, there is only about a 45% accuracy rate when making a low back pain diagnosis?

Headache Solutions: Save Billions With Chiropractic Care?

By Mark Studin, DC, FASBE(C), DAAPM, DAAMLP

It was reported by Doheny in 2006 that migraine headaches cost U.S. employers more than $24 billion annually, including direct health care costs and indirect expenses such as absenteeism.

Doheny went on to report that according to Michael Staufacker, director of program development for StayWell Health Management in St. Paul, Minn., "The programs are so few and far between because many companies 'don't perceive it as a priority.'"1

By Donald M. Petersen Jr., BS, HCD(hc), FICC(h), Publisher

In May 2009, the English agency National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence (NICE) produced a guideline you're probably not aware of here in the U.S.: Low Back Pain: Early Management of Persistent Non-Specific Low Back Pain.

By Mark Studin, DC, FASBE(C), DAAPM, DAAMLP

The bold lines are the most important.

It was reported by Zigler in 2011 that 200,000 spinal fusion surgeries are performed each year in the United States alone.1 An equal number of microdiscectomies are performed, according to Mayer (2006),2 and is considered by many to be a conservative number. Let’s consider the chiropractic impact of exposing the public to treatment that could avoid needless surgeries, using the 400,000 disc surgeries as a conservative number.