future health and wellness. We would be remiss not to remind the reader of some facts, such as: • Annually, 18.6 per cent of the population suffers from back pain • Less than 22 per cent of the victims suffer from back pain for the first time • More than 20 per cent of back pain recurs in less than six months • Over 75 per cent of back pain victims have similar symp-toms 12 month later. It would seem that treating pain, in itself, is likely a fail-ure. The chiropractic objective is to precisely correct spinal dysfunction and the associated neural interferences when indicated. As far as evidence based data are concerned, chiropractic manipulative therapy is improperly compared with the pain-disabling effect of medical or alternative care. The reduction of pain following traditional chiropractic care is mainly the by-product of a corrective procedure. Indeed, pain originating from ongoing tissue or cellular damage is an appropriate and vital warning signal. There-fore, the therapeutic goal should be to identify and under-stand the underlying mechanism and to figure out how to respond in order to stop, control and/or prevent such damage. The ensuing reduction of pain, in this case, is of a secondary benefit, demonstrating the probable effectiveness of the method. Pain naturally subsides as we recover from tissue injury. The signal becomes gradually useless as the regenerative process takes over. Otherwise, pain will likely re-occur as an ongoing degenerative process may further disrupt tissue integrity. This is a fundamental distinction that has defined chiropractic care throughout history. Many ignore this fact but we shouldn’t any longer. Gone are the days where a chiropractor, as a primary health-care provider, could respond and care for the gen-uine needs of the community. It is a fact that most new chiropractic patients have previously consulted another health-care professional and, according to one large survey, three in four patients describe chiropractic care as “very effective.” Not so long ago, most successful chiropractors would have never demeaned themselves in such a subservient position as to lose our professional autonomy and inde-pendence that past generations helped establish and pre-serve. Are we being coerced into becoming second-tier team members whose first intent is to assault the pain signal, despite the patient’s genuine and ultimate needs? Have we betrayed those who have entrusted us with chiropractic’s future? Most importantly, have we betrayed those who have entrusted us with their health? (For a list of references cited by the authors for this article, email the editor at [email protected]) Staying in touch ... every day! @CanChiropractor canadianchiropractor.ca www.canadianchiropractor.ca online to receive bi-weekly enews facebook.com/CanadianChiropractor September 2017 Canadian Chiropractor 25
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