Some reports blame opioid use for part of the decline in labor force participation among adult men. Estimates based on workers’ compensation data shed light on the relationship between opioid prescriptions and the return to work among people who suffer work-related low-back injuries, for which opioid use is common. Differences in opioid prescribing patterns across locations demonstrate how various use of these medications can impact how quickly workers return to work.

Many VA primary care providers are routinely discussing the services provided by DCs as an option with their patients.

VA provides chiropractic services on-site at one or more VA facilities in each VISN. VA facilities that do not have on-site chiropractic clinics provide these services via Community Care mechanisms. A list of VA facilities that have established on-site chiropractic clinics is available at ...

Patients can assess their own back pain using an app on their phone or tablet as effectively as current paper methods, a new study has shown. The study demonstrates that digital versions of established measurements for assessing back pain are just as reliable and responsive, opening the possibility for their use by patients for routine measurements and clinical trials.

The researchers see this study as a necessary first step in the greater use of digital media in clinical settings, in light of recent calls for greater use of such technology by healthcare providers.

Researchers found that frequent, persistent back pain is associated with earlier death in a study of more than 8,000 older women. The researchers found that disability measured after back pain helped explain the association.

Researchers at Boston Medical Center found that frequent, persistent back pain is associated with earlier death in a study of more than 8,000 older women who were followed for an average of 14 years. After controlling for important sociodemographic and health factors, women who reported frequent, persistent back pain had a 24 percent increased risk of death compared to women with no back pain.

In the past, chiropractic treatment got mixed reviews from physicians. However, in early 2017, The American College of Physicians released new guidelines. It now supports the use of nonpharmacologic therapies, such as chiropractic and acupuncture, as first-line treatments for low back pain, before using medication.

Chiropractors offer several adjunctive therapies that can help treat arthritis. Ultrasound: Many think of ultrasound as imaging technology, but when applied to soft tissues and joints, sound waves can also produce a massaging effect that helps reduce swelling and decrease pain and stiffness.

Electrotherapy: These tiny electric pulses are not painful. They treat soft tissue injuries by stimulating nerves and muscles.

Are you looking for a holistic way to take the edge off of those painful joints? Chiropractic medicine may be for you, as long as you remember to listen to your body.

Unlike what you see on TV, most of what chiropractors do today is more gentle than cracking backs or popping necks into place. In fact, there are more than 150 techniques that chiropractors use to manually adjust the spine, joints and muscles with varying degrees of force.

Risky opioids are no better at controlling chronic back or arthritis pain than non-opioid drugs, including Tylenol or Motrin, new research finds. With opioid overdose deaths rising in the United States, the findings suggest addictive medications like oxycodone (OxyContin) or morphine don’t have to be the first choice against crippling arthritis pain.

People with chronic low back pain might get “modest, short-term pain relief” from opioids. But when it comes to long-term treatment, evidence to support the effectiveness of opioids is “lacking.”

That’s the conclusion of an analysis by JAMA Internal Medicine (“Efficacy, Tolerability, and Dose-Dependent Effects of Opioid Analgesics for Low Back Pain,” May 23, 2016), after reviewing the results of 20 trials that included nearly 8,000 participants.