Consumer Reports Health surveyed patients suffering from back pain and asked them to rank the effectiveness of the treatments they tried. The leader among everything was chiropractic. Chiropractic treatment is often thought of as “alternative” because it does not follow the model of traditional medicine – prescribing narcotics and NSAID’s (anti-inflammatory medication).

Here’s a link to a video overview of the study’s results:

http://www.bing.com/videos/watch/video/beating-back-pain/q90h9c2a?rel=msn&from=sharepermalink

As an attorney representing injured people, I constantly fight a stigma that has attached itself firmly to chiropractic treatment as “out there.” My own anecdotal experience is similar to this study, with chiropractic and massage therapy providing the most consistent results for those recovering from soft tissue structure injuries (the stretching and tearing of muscles, tendons, ligaments, etc.).

My hope is that a survey like this will aid others in seeing the real benefit that chiropractic and massage provides those with pain along the back and spine.