The most common reason that many patients seek low back pain treatment from a chiropractor is for relief from pain! In fact, 31 million Americans experience low-back pain at any given time.

A few interesting facts about back pain:

* Low back pain is the single leading cause of disability worldwide, according to the Global Burden of Disease 2010.
* One-half of all working Americans admit to having back pain symptoms each year. It is one of the most common reasons for missed work.
* Back pain is the second most common reason for visits to the doctor's office, outnumbered only by upper-respiratory infections.
* Most cases of back pain are mechanical or non-organic--meaning they are not caused by serious conditions, such as inflammatory arthritis, infection, fracture or cancer.
* Americans spend at least $50 billion each year on low back pain treatment--and that's just for the more easily identified costs.
* Experts estimate that as many as 80% of the population will experience a back problem at some time in their lives.

What Causes Back Pain?

The back is a complicated structure of bones, joints, ligaments and muscles. You can sprain ligaments, strain muscles, rupture disks, and irritate joints, all of which can lead to back pain. While sports injuries or accidents can cause back pain, sometimes the simplest of movements--for example, picking up a pencil from the floor-- can have painful results. In addition, arthritis, poor posture, obesity, and psychological stress can cause or complicate back pain. Back pain can also directly result from disease of the internal organs, such as kidney stones, kidney infections, blood clots, or bone loss.

Manipulation as a Low Back Pain Treatment

Chiropractic spinal manipulation is a safe and effective low back pain treatment. It reduces pain, decreases medication, rapidly advances physical therapy, and requires very few passive forms of treatment, such as bed rest. In fact, many doctors recommend that low back pain sufferers choose the most conservative care first--spinal manipulation and spinal decompression. It is a safe and effective, drugless form of professional low back pain treatment in adults. An article published recently in The Journal of the American Medical Association noted that surgery should only be tried if other therapies fail.

The American Chiropractic Association (ACA) urges you to make an informed choice about your back care. To learn more about how the services of doctors of chiropractic may help you, call McKim Chiropractic today. They specialize in low back pain treatment with the DRS Protocol? a non-surgical alternative to treat back pain associated with spinal and disc problems. Call or go to http://www.mckimchiropractic.com for more information. Our licensed and certified staff is happy to help the residents of Boise, ID, Nampa, ID, and Caldwell, ID, obtain pain-free living.