How Does Obesity Increase the Risk of Low Back Pain? Obesity is known to be an independent risk factor for musculoskeletal disorders; however, the mechanism behind the association between obesity and lower back pain is not yet fully understood. In an effort to add to the available research, Nigerian scientists investigated the spinal curvature of…

Arthritis Increases Risk of Carpal Tunnel Syndrome. Carpal tunnel syndrome (CTS) is a condition often treated by chiropractors. The carpal tunnel is a narrow, rigid passageway of ligament and bones at the base of the hand that houses the median nerve and tendons. Sometimes, thickening from irritated tendons or other swelling narrows the tunnel and…

Specific Low Back Exercises Reduce Chronic Low Back Pain. Doctors of chiropractic often prescribe exercise to be performed in-office or at home as part of a treatment program for patients with musculoskeletal conditions, like back pain. A recent study examined the role of lumbar extensor muscle strengthening for individuals with chronic low back pain. In…

More Chiropractors, Less Opioids. Based on data collected in 2011, a new study has found an association between both a higher per-capita supply of chiropractors and Medicare spending on chiropractic care and lower opioid prescription use among younger, disabled Medicare beneficiaries. Opioids are a type of narcotic pain medication that can have serious side effects…

Musculoskeletal Pain Common in Veterans. A recent study investigated the prevalence of musculoskeletal disorders among United States veterans. The study included 5,237,763 former soldiers and found that non-traumatic joint pain (27%), back pain (25%), and osteoarthritis (21%) are the most commonly reported and treated musculoskeletal disorders among those who received Veterans Health Administration care. The…

Is it CTS or Double Crush Syndrome? Many patients with carpal tunnel syndrome (CTS) may also have median nerve entrapments further up the course of the nerve (in the neck, shoulder, elbow, etc). When the median nerve is encumbered at two anatomical locations, it’s described as a double crush syndrome (DCS). In this study, researchers…

Tennis Not Dangerous to Teen Spines. Many health experts believe that tennis and other asymmetrical sports pose risk factors for scoliosis development in adolescents even though scientific data is lacking. A new study that involved 102 adolescent tennis players failed to find a correlation between tennis and either an increased risk for low back pain…

Cervical Dysfunction and TMD? A team of Brazilian researchers found evidence that patients with a diagnosed temporomandibular disorder (TMD) may also have cervical dysfunction that may possibly contribute to their TMD symptoms. In this study, twenty TMD patients and 20 healthy controls underwent a series of tests that measured pain, disability, and sensitivity to hot…

The UK Is Onboard with Chiropractic. Researchers from the United Kingdom (UK) have concluded that chiropractic services are appropriate for private and government healthcare-referred patient groups and that chiropractic services should be considered when medical physicians make decisions concerning the referral of patients with musculoskeletal conditions. The conclusion was based on subjective outcomes concerning 8,222…

Conservative Care vs. Surgery for Stenosis. A recent research review investigated the effectiveness of different types of surgery compared with different types of non-surgical interventions in adults with symptomatic lumbar spinal stenosis—a condition that is often debilitating and associated with degeneration of the spine. The investigators found both surgical and non-surgical treatment approaches produced similar…