Is a Chiropractor the right kind of Doctor for my back pain?

Is a Chiropractor the right kind of Doctor for my back pain?
John E. Ulrich, D.C. 9/13/00

That's a good question. It is often difficult to know what kind of Doctor is best for a particular health problem we may have. Many different condition can cause similar symptoms in our bodies. An example is stomach pain. It could simply be caused by nervousness or gas. It could also be more serious, like an ulcer or a blockage in you intestines. That is why is it usually best to see the type of Doctor who specializes in testing and diagnosing the various conditions that can cause your particular type of pain. Chiropractors are back specialists. They spend their entire education learning about the human spine and how it works.

All too often we think we are treating our back problems by taking pain medication. However, understanding that the pain is not the condition is the first step to finally getting rid of your back problem. Back pain affects millions of people every year, and is second only to headaches as the number one reason to visit a Doctor. Spinal conditions can be difficult to treat and often require several months to truly heal and become stable again. It is often much easier for a Doctor to simply give you pain medication and hope your pain goes away rather than taking the time and attention necessary to truly treat the cause. However, treating your pain is not the same thing as treating your back problem. In fact, it can be dangerous to ignore a back problem. Not that a back problem is usually life threatening, but it can be quality of life threatening. The longer a condition is ignored or covered up, the worse it becomes. Most of you know someone who has disabling back pain. How would you rate their quality of life?

Doctors of Chiropractic are specialists in testing and analyzing the human spine. There are many different conditions that can cause back pain, and a Chiropractor is trained to differentiate between these conditions. The most common problems are associated with the muscles, discs, and nerves.

If you have a back problem that just started, or a chronic problem that keeps coming and going, you should have your back examined by a spinal expert. A Chiropractor can quickly tell you if your problem can be helped through state of the art Chiropractic care. If you have been living with the pain, or covering it up with medication, you should stop ignoring the problem and take responsibility for your health. Pretending the problem doesn't exist could eventually ruin the quality of your life… Perhaps it already is?

John Ulrich is a Doctor of Chiropractic Medicine with his "California Chiropratic"offices located in San Carlos, California and has been the Chiropractor of choice for such athletes as the 49ers Tom Rathman, Roger Craig and Daryl Pollard.

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