Low Back Pain and Sciatica: Chiropractic or Surgery?

Many people who suffer from low back pain also experience pain and numbness radiating into the leg. Some people even have muscle weakness in their leg or foot. This is called sciatica or sciatic nerve pain, and it is one of the most painful conditions one can experience. It can be debilitating, and causes many people to be disabled from their jobs and unable to enjoy spending time with family and friends.

If a person goes to their primary care physician they may first be given medication for the condition. If the medication is not effective they next may have an MRI of the lower back taken. If the MRI shows a lumbar disc herniation causing pressure on the sciatic nerve a referral to a surgeon may lead to a recommendation for back surgery called a "micro-diskectomy". But this is not the only treatment option to be considered.

Researchers have recently found that spinal manipulation of the lumbar spine is just as effective as micro-diskectomy for patients struggling with sciatica from a lumbar disc herniation. Overall patients who received spinal manipulation benefited to the same degree as those who underwent surgery. In United States, most spinal manipulation is performed by doctors of chiropractic. The research paper titled, "Manipulation or Micro-diskectomy for Sciatica? published October 2010, in the Journal of Manipulative and Physiological Therapeutics noted that "after a year, no significant complications were seen in either treatment group, and the 60% of patients who benefited from spinal manipulation improved to the same degree as their surgical counterparts". The patient population, in the research study, included people experiencing chronic sciatica (symptoms greater than six months) that had failed traditional, medical management.

Another benefit from conservative treatment such as spinal manipulation is that it is less costly than surgery. One study noted that micro-diskectomy surgery in the United States averages $25,000 per procedure. The cost of chiropractic care for sciatica is usually much less than a 10th of the surgical amount. If chiropractic care for sciatic nerve pain was performed before surgery it could save the United States billions of health care dollars annually.

The research supports spinal manipulation performed by a doctor of chiropractic as a valuable and safe treatment option for those experiencing lumbar disc herniations and sciatic nerve pain. Those individuals experiencing sciatic nerve pain should consider spinal manipulation as the treatment to be tried first, only to be followed by surgery if unsuccessful.