70%–90% of Americans will experience at least
one episode of incapacitating lower back pain in
their lifetime.

While less than 5% of back conditions need immediate evaluation by a doctor, most sufferers of back pain will experience episodes increasing in both intensity and frequency over time. Many will develop chronic pain. The creation of this website was prompted by requests from the insurance sector, and is intended to evaluate which treatments are successful for different types of back pain. This information can be used by doctors and therapists, to evaluate the efficacy of the treatment they are prescribing, and also by sufferers of lower back pain.

There are two treatments with proven efficacy in the literature for reducing back pain. These are Medication and Manipulation.

In addressing how to prevent or limit future episodes, Functional Testing is becoming the international standard. I have included Exercises that I have found useful in my practice at Laurelhurst Chirporactic in Portland, Oregon. For a quick introduction please watch this video on chiropractic care for lower back pain.

Whatever therapy or treatment is chosen, it should increase the Functional Test scores upon re-evaluation. Once all of the tests can be completed correctly, or once the scores have plateaued (see Red & Yellow Flags) active care is complete. If there are future episodes of pain they can be treated again by short courses of Medication or Manipulation as well as further exploration of the Exercises, if they have not been ongoing.

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