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General information
Until the 1950s, conventional medicine did not fully recognize the role
the spine plays in managing the human body, often ignoring its importance.
In 1980 Dr Bernard A. Baker wrote: ..." Even today clinical medicine often disregards
spinal problems. Based on my own medical practice I must say that a connection
between a dysfunctional intervertebral disco and other specific diseases is
often disregarded. For this reason many patients who could have been helped are
qualified as chronically or incurably sick.
Manual therapy of the spine, aimed at restoring proper functioning of
the nervous system, is the basic method of chiropraxis. Currently it is
commonly recognized as a proper therapy in the treatment of pains of
musculo-skeletal origin.
Ninety four percent of all manual treatments are performed by specialists.
Forty percent of patients, of which 10% are below the age of 17, consult a chiropractor
due to pains in lumbar and sacral segments of the spine as well as acute pains in
the back.
In the USA at least 36 random clinical tests were carried out which compared
manual treatments with alternative treatments of pains in the lumbar-sacral segments.
In his research of 1998 Meeker demonstrated the superiority of manual over
conventional treatment in 70% of cases. Not even in a single case was treatment
with other methods more effective.
The research carried out by Williama Collinge, which compared the chiropractic
and conventional approaches in the treatment of otitis media (common infection
among young children) suggest that chiropractic methods give beneficial effects.
Still ten years ago the future of the chiropraxis seemed doubtful; nowadays it
looks very promising. The number of patients who select manual therapy as basic
treatment of the pain in the neck, back and lumbar-sacral area has increased.
Another reason why the future of chiropraxis seems promising is its ability to fulfill
the expectations of patients.
What is the age when disc dislocations
occur most frequently?
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Patient’s age in years.
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Frequency of appearance in %
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10 -19
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2,2
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20 -29
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11,2
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30 - 39
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39,2
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40 - 49
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29,0
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50 - 59
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14,0
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60 - 69
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3,0
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Distribution of disc dysfunctions
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Location
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Frequency %
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Cervical backbone
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24
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Thoracic backbone
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14
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Lumbar backbone
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62
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How much load can the spine stand?
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Body position
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Load in Kilograms kG
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Lying on the back
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15
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Standard sitting
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140
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Standing
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100
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Bending from the standing position
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140
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Lifting of 20 kg in forward bend
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200
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Increased load when coughing, pushing
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50
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Load of the lumbar - sacra disc in 50 kg.
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Body position/degrees of trunk bending
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Load in kG
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In 180
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90
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In 150
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360
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In 120
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630
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In 90
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720
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In industrialized countries approximately 30% of patients are employed
in offices, i.e. they spend most of the time in a sitting position.
The research demonstrated the following:
- Ca. 61% of the patients complain of spinal pains
- Ca. 28% of the patients complain of headaches and pains in the lumbar-sacral
area of shoulder and nape of the neck
- Ca. 15% suffers from the thoracic backbone pains
The problem concerns not only office
workers but also blue-collars that perform work in a sitting position. It is estimated that 40% of work places simply
do not comply with the binding standards.
Eighty percent of all sicknesses are related to various disorders within the
spinal area.
Source: "Pains
and diseases of a backbone", Bernard A. Bäker, Peter Reisky
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