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February 24 2001
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Do You Have Low Back Pain? Forget the X-rays

 

Getting an x-ray to uncover the source of lower back pain does not reduce suffering. In fact, in a new study, patients who had an x-ray, or radiography, reported more pain 3 months later than those who did not have an x-ray.

There is no evidence that having radiography helps doctors to care for people with simple back pain.

There is even evidence that the very act of having an x-ray can, perhaps by appearing to increase the perception of severity, delay recovery.

Low back pain is a common medical problem, and doctors often x-ray the lower spine to diagnose the cause of the pain. In most cases, however, x-ray results do little to change the treatment of back pain.

Most of the time, x-rays are performed to reassure patients or doctors.

Interestingly, even though x-rays did not appear to help relieve back pain, more than 80% of patients in both groups said they would choose to have an x-ray if they could.

By 9 months, most of the differences between the groups diminished, although having an x-ray still did not appear to provide any benefits, the report indicates. Patients in the x-ray group tended to be more satisfied with their care, however.

The findings highlight the need to let people know that x-rays are of little use to most people with low back pain.

Since so many people believe that radiography is an essential feature of the management of back pain, there is a need for a campaign to inform the public.

When doctors order an x-ray to investigate low back pain, patients may interpret the move as a sign that they really are unwell, so they may be more likely to report pain and to think that the pain interferes with their activities.

British Medical Journal February 17, 2001; 322: 400-405



Dr. Mercola Dr. Mercola's Comments:

Low back pain is one of the most mismanaged problems in traditional health care. The use of X-rays is one of the classic examples of the misuse of medical resources.

Does this mean X-rays should never be done? Absolutely not. In cases of trauma, like a motor vehicle accident, or spreading cancers, X-rays are very important to the find out what is going on.

However, routine, common, "run of the mill", low back pain does not need X-rays. Generally chiropractors do a far better job at taking care of this problem, but many also find the need to take X-rays.

I would strongly discourage anyone from getting them.

Why? Because I know they are not necessary. Last November I and another staff member learned NST.

Generally, clinicians who use NST to treat pain have an 85% success rate for all types of pain. However, since we started this treatment in our office we have yet to find a person not improve with low back pain.

Unlike chiropractic, which frequently requires many visits, NST treatment is usually complete in 3-5 sessions. The neat thing about it is that the improvement is PERMANENT.

Any clinicians who wish to learn this technique can review information about the Chicago May courses

If you need to find an NST clinician the picking is slim as there are only 100 of us in the US, but you can Click Here to try the links.

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Community Comments ( 1 )
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Chiro2
[ Joined on 09/08 ] [ Posted on September 19, 2008 ]
       
   
 
Novice User

Dear All,

First of all, hats off to Dr Mercola and his site.  It is amazing and we are blessed to have such a reference available to us.  Unfortunately, I completely disagree with the comments made about xrays and patients.  I am a chiropractor and find the use of xrays incredibly valuable for assisting the treatement of conditions.  Put simply, if you dont assess the spine for biomechanical changes, through xray, then the rate of improvement and the overall success of care is reduced dramatically.  Furthermore, numberous times on xray, i have found reasons to NOT treat that patient due to structural abnormalities that would potentially cause further harm.  I agree that not all patients need to be radiographed, but i do find reason in alot of patients.  And if you are concerned that patients might feel worse after seeing the radiographs, don't show them to them.  Simple.  I know that i would rather my healthcare professional assess all aspects of my condition, not just making and educated guess...

In health,

Dr M.

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