Facts Regarding Muscle Relaxers
Facts Regarding Muscle Relaxers
If you go to your medical doctor for lower back pain you will most likely get muscle relaxants – but do they work? Studies compiled since 2004 seem to indicate that they help less than you think they would and they come with risks that you may not want to take.
Muscle Relaxers: Good or Bad?
Most of the low back pain patients that I see in my San Diego Chiropractic clinic get very little if any relief from muscle relaxers – that is why most of them ended up in my chiropractic clinic. After all, there is a reason that chiropractors tend to be known as “back pain doctors.”
So here are some facts that were drawn from recent studies about muscle relaxants.
- The average patient experiences somewhere between 10% and 20% reduction in their level of pain with the use of muscle relaxants.
- Muscle relaxers have side effects that include: blurred vision, double vision, dizziness, drowsiness, fainting, hives, depression, difficulty breathing, stomach cramping, clumsiness, nervousness, irritability, headaches, nausea, vomiting, muscle cramping, vomiting of blood, bloody stools, etc. These side effects are similar to those found in over the counter pain medications.
- As a country we spend $11 billion dollars per year on muscle relaxers.
- The average cost of muscle relaxants per patient per episode of low back pain is $441.00
Chiropractic care compares quite favorably to muscle relaxants for the treatment of lower back pain. A 2004 study compared treatment outcomes of 1.7 million insured patients seeking various types of care, including chiropractic care, for lower back pain. This study found that when chiropractic care was used that treatment costs were reduced by 28%, incidence of hospitalization was reduced by 41%, the need for surgical intervention was decreased by 32% and special testing utilization (MRI, CAT scan, etc.) was reduced by 37%.
Chiropractic Adjustment for Low Back Pain
A 2008 study that compared chiropractic care to all forms of medical treatment, including muscle relaxers, found that after 8 weeks of care that chiropractic care was 457% more effective for relieving pain and restoring function than any type of medicine.
The problem with medication is that it works to relieve the symptom but it does not address the cause. If the cause is addressed, which in most cases of lower back pain is a bio-mechanical problem with the joints, the symptoms will be chronic – never seeming to resolve. Chiropractic care works to resolve bio-mechanical issues with the joints which is why it is so much more effective at resolving lower back pain than the minimal relief provided by muscle relaxers.
Yours in Good Health,
Dr. Steve Jones
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(619) 280-0554
