Chiropractic Treatment Helps Back Pain in Female Veterans

More female veterans are using chiropractic for back pain

Newswise — Arlington, Va.- A new study finds that female veterans—one of the fastest growing populations receiving treatment through the Veterans Administration (VA) health care system—experience improvement in low back pain with a course of chiropractic care, according to the American Chiropractic Association (ACA).

Published in the Journal of Manipulative and Physiological Therapeutics, the study’s authors note that musculoskeletal conditions such as back pain are the most common ailments among female veterans. They also report that female veterans on average access VA medical care more frequently than male veterans, have a higher outpatient cost per patient and have a higher rate of service-connected disability.

Chiropractic services are one of the conservative (non-drug) treatment options for pain offered in the VA. They are available at half of the major VA medical facilities in the United States. “Chiropractic’s non-drug, non-addictive and noninvasive approach to pain management can help alleviate disabling pain and improve function,” says ACA President David Herd, DC. “That’s why chiropractors are an important part of the health care team in the VA.”

The VA has been under fire lately for the overuse of opioid painkillers, leading to higher rates of addiction and overdose death for veterans. Now there is more of an effort to emphasize non-drug treatments like chiropractic first for pain to avoid opioid abuse. The VA has expanded the coverage of this care to chiropractic clinics rather than just VA facilities. All veterans, both male and female, should request chiropractic care at a local clinic for their aches and pains.

Info provided by ACA.

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