Maintenance Care

One of the common questions I get is people wondering if they will have to come back for the rest of their life. It's a great question but the answer is more complex than a simple yes or no. Like most things in life, it depends. It depends on how long you have had your pain, what kind of pathology is going on, if it's chronic vs episodic and how much it impacts your day to day life. Most people will require some form of on-going care because like your teeth and going to the dentist or like going to the gym your spine requires you to look after it.

Low back pain is one of the most common and costly healthcare problems affecting society, and it is also the leading cause of activity limitation and work absence around the world.

After the doctors at Oak Ridge Spine and Sport get you out of pain we may make recommendations to reduce the risk of a future episode (or at least minimize its severity should one occur). These recommendations may include adopting a fitness routine, dietary modifications, specific exercises, foot orthotics, and/or routine “maintenance” chiropractic adjustments, such as once a month or every six weeks.

Although further research is necessary to more clearly understand precisely how maintenance care works to reduce the risk of future episodes of back pain, researchers currently hypothesize that such treatments may improve any biomechanical or neuromuscular dysfunctions before they become symptomatic. Studies published in both 2004 and 2011 as well as the most recent Nordic study note that patients with chronic low back pain who received maintenance care for nine months reported less pain and disability than participants who did not receive ongoing care.