Chiropractic care and exercise may provide short-term relief for back-related leg pain
Back-related leg pain can greatly decrease quality of life and is costly for both the individual and healthcare systems yet there is little by way of research to guide its management. So a group decided to look at if spinal manipulative therapy plus home exercise and advice would reduce back-related leg pain of adults compared with just home exercise and advice.
A total of 179 people aged at least 21 years of age who had back-related leg pain for a minimum of four weeks took part. They received 12 weeks of spinal manipulative therapy (up to 20 visits) plus home exercise and advice or just home exercise and advice, and were assessed at 12 weeks and 52 weeks.
Those who received spinal manipulative therapy had reduced pain after 12 weeks compared to people in the group who only received home exercise and advice. But the difference was no longer present at 52 weeks.
Secondary outcomes measured included self-reported low back pain, disability, global improvement, satisfaction, medication use and general health status. Spinal manipulation therapy improved many of these at 12 weeks but again at 52 weeks the difference between the groups had disappeared. The exceptions, however, were global improvement, satisfaction and medication use.
“For patients with back-related leg pain, spinal manipulation therapy plus home exercise and advice was more effective than home exercise advice alone after 12 weeks, but the benefit was sustained only for some secondary outcomes at 52 weeks,” the researchers conclude.
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Click here to read the original research.
Image credit: Image from page 38 of “Boone County Recorder” (1908)
