A survey was done in Germany, of over 8000 people, and researchers found that people who smoked complained more often about chronic back pain than non-smokers.
Although the reasons can’t be determined from this survey – for example, it could be that people smoke because of chronic pain – it is an interesting finding.
The researchers found that both smokers and those who used to smoke fell into the “more back pain” group. Those who smoked for more than 16 years had double the chance of having back pain, and even more for those who smoked more than 26 years, than …read more

People who experience chronic pain most often want to avoid using any type of medication to manage it or eliminate it completely. Also, for some injuries, medication isn’t effective.
For some back injuries, the chronic pain may be lasting for a while before surgery is proposed, because surgery is a last-ditch effort to control the pain. This means, by the time your doctor has suggested and arranged the surgery, you may have undergone months (or years) of different “conventional” treatments before the surgery actually happens.
Unfortunately, although spinal surgery does have a good success rate, it doesn’t work for everyone. Or it …read more

 
Chronic back pain is so frequent in Western society that some experts say that 75% of all North Americans have or will experience back pain during their life span. Back pain is not only painful, it’s costly. In terms of direct costs, Americans spend millions of dollars on doctors’ visits and treatments and in indirect costs, millions of dollars are lost to missed work and decreased productivity.
 
The New York Times has published an article, Americans Spend More to Treat Spine Woes , which discusses the cost of treating back pain.
 
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Alternative treatments, those outside of mainstream Western medicine, are often viewed with suspicion, if not downright ridicule. However, as alternative medicine is becoming more popular, researchers are beginning to take them more seriously and are conducting research to determine if they really are effective.
Prolotherapy (proliferative injection therapy) is one treatment that is gaining popularity. This article from January 2007, Prolotherapy for low back pain, written by Simon Dagenais, PhD, reviews study findings of prolotherapy, the type of agent used, how often and how many injections were given, and if there were any other treatments done at the same time.
The article …read more

Chronic Low Back Pain Is Reduced, Analgesic Use Is Reduced, And Activities Of Daily Living Improved Following Treatment With The DRX9000
Chronic low back pain is a prevalent and expensive condition in industrialized countries. However, a study partially funded by Axiom Worldwide and published on-line by Pain Practice indicates that chronic low back pain may improve with treatment on the DRX9000. The study titled, “Treatment of 94 Outpatients With Chronic Discogenic Low Back Pain with the DRX9000: A Retrospective Chart Review,” reports that patients with a mean pain duration of 535 weeks reported a mean verbal numerical pain intensity rating equal …read more