Don’t Wait… Choose Proactive Health Care

An old adage instructs that good things come to those who wait. Waiting to make health care choices proves to be a major exception to the time-honored virtue of patience. Dental checkups, mammograms, prostate exams and physicals help detect problems early or address them before they turn into a larger problem. New research proves the value of early intervention to address back and sciatica pain.

Human beings tend to treat problems reactively rather than visualize problems on the horizon. Preventative care and proactive of health decisions represent some of the smartest and most cost-effective approaches for the whole family. The brain tends to address issues of immediate concern. The brain usually waits (reactively) until pain presents before calling attention to a health issue. Too often the problem existed for a previous time and could have been addressed to a healthier end.

Compelling research published in October 2020 showed that early intervention proved to be an essential ingredient in achieving long-term health satisfaction. Improvements in functional disability, pain intensity, and overall satisfaction resulted for people who sought early therapy and manual care intervention compared to people who waited or elected to use drug-therapy. The standard medical process for people with back pain and sciatica usually involves drug therapy to mask the pain while waiting to see if the problem progresses. This reactive approach risks greater long-term expenditure and the dangers of regular use of powerful pharmaceuticals. The wait and see approach combined with pain medication acknowledges a problem exists but does nothing to repair, fix, or heal the issue but rather allows the condition to persist.

Chiropractic care and physical therapy interventions help address problems before they become bigger and more permanent. Chiropractors use objective and specialized testing to determine the location and extent of a problem that needs to be addressed. America prescribes more prescription drugs than any country in the world. That reality contrasts with parents and families making a conscious decision to raise children and pursue health choices that do not involve dependency or need for medications. Chiropractic and physical therapeutic healthcare continue to gain momentum and popularity because of research that reveals the benefits of working with the body and honoring its ability to heal itself. When it comes to health care, good things come to those who don’t wait.

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Annals of Internal Medicine January 2021 “Physical Therapy Referral From Primary Care for Acute Back Pain With Sciatica : A Randomized Controlled Trial.” Julie M Fritz, Elizabeth Lane, Molly McFadden, Gerard Brennan, John S Magel, Anne Thackeray, Kate Minick, Whitney Meier, Tom Greene