It is well known that significant pain relief can follow from appropriate chiropractic adjustments.
The purpose of chiropractic care, however, is not to simply remove or reduce pain. A positive outcome of an adjustment is that pain can be reduced or eliminated entirely. Pain is perceived in the brain, not the body, so understanding how pain originates is a key element in its elimination.
Alleviating pain begins with finding the cause. Although simple in principle, millions of people every day seek to treat and mask symptoms of pain rather than its origin. Chiropractors seek to find and address causes rather than effects.
The Spine Journal reported research that compared three different forms of treatment for chronic spinal pain sufferers: non-steroidal anti-inflammatories (NSAIDs Vioxx and Celebrex), acupuncture and chiropractic. The results surprised the medical community and helped people understand the benefits of regular adjustments.
The results revealed that chiropractic adjustments alleviated pain five times more effectively than medications and three times more effectively than acupuncture.
The study also reported that 47% of the subjects receiving chiropractic care experienced an improvement in their overall health, while just 15% reported the same in the acupuncture group and 18% in the drug therapy group.
Chiropractors have long advocated many benefits in addition to simple pain relief. Improvement of the nervous system translates into a body empowered to improve overall health.