What is the value of chiropractic in Knoxville TN? And what is the value of using other means of care?

Many methods of care have been used throughout history for many different issues. This post only will be addressing a few common issues but many more problems can be helped through chiropractic.

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Reasons to get Chiropractic Care in Knoxville TN

Neck surgery is commonly done to fuse 2 vertebrae (bones in the spine) together. The cause of this can be loss of disc and the disc space, other degeneration, fracture, and stenosis (narrowing of your spinal canal). This usually corrects only 1 bone, costs $116,000 or more, and can take 24 weeks or more to recover. It can also cause side effects of decreased motion of the neck and further degeneration in the other vertebrae of the neck.²

If the neck isn’t the issue, maybe it is the low back. Low back surgery is also commonly done to fuse 2 vertebrae together. It only corrects 1 level, can cost $35,000 or more and can take 12 weeks or more to recover.²

A study done in children with scoliosis who had spinal fusion surgery showed complications including chronic respiratory insufficiency, bladder dysfunction, and epilepsy.¹ These are mere children that will deal with these issues the rest of their lives.

These numbers don’t factor in the costs of pain killers (which can be addicting), x-rays ($325 or more per xray), MRI ($1700), or any other expenses necessary for the surgery. Follow up surgeries are common as well! One study found that 18% of people that had neck surgery needed additional surgeries after 5 years. The bill just keeps adding up!²

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These are just a few of the MANY things that chiropractic can help you with as well!

Chiropractic care: Provides less drugs (none), less surgery (none if possible), less sickness, no addiction, and VERY FEW side effects (mostly just soreness initially). Time to recover from an injury greatly decreases when you are previously under chiropractic care and can decrease further with chiropractic care after the injury as well. The cost is astronomically lower than a surgery and it fixes your ENTIRE spine not just 1 level. The benefits don’t just stop there. Chiropractic works to prevent these injuries that lead to these surgeries in the first place. Why go through surgery and months of recovery and rehab if it can be avoided? Not only that but did you know that chiropractic can help your body function better even when you aren’t in pain? Less than about 10% of the nerves in your body function for pain. The other 90% of the nerves in your body work on your muscles function, temperature regulation, body communication, body position, organs, blood vessels, glands, and more! Chiropractic can help something as simple as a headache to being able to lift your arms higher, to helping decrease blood pressure! To value this on the same level as a simple neck fusion surgery is sorely undervaluing chiropractic care.

There is a post going around that explains this value a bit more. It says the following:

“But Doctor, my health insurance won’t pay for my chiropractic care without a referral from my medical doctor.” Your car insurance doesn’t pay for oil changes, but you do them anyway because you know they’re what’s best for your car. Your health insurance doesn’t pay for a gym membership, supplements, bottled water or healthy foods, but many people do those things anyway because they know it’s what’s best for their bodies. The same is true with chiropractic care.

We can take this even further. Does your dental insurance pay for your toothpaste and toothbrush? NO! If these examples don’t provide enough value for you, think about this. What if you received a single car when you turn 16 years old and it had to last you the rest of your life. You get no new cars, and if you are in an accident you’re paying the mechanic an extremely large bill to fix it because you don’t get another car. That would stink right? So instead, you’re more likely to take better care of it by waxing it regularly, driving safer, and keeping track of the car’s state of maintenance. Well that is EXACTLY what is going on with your spine! You only get a single spine for your entire life. Don’t you think that making sure you are keeping good maintenance on your spine is just as important, if not more important, than keeping good maintenance on your car? Chiropractic care is just that. As chiropractors we adjust your spine into the proper alignment and work you towards a maintenance level. Then at that point, we adjust you to keep your spinal alignment well maintained! Isn’t that awesome! That means that your spine will have a significantly less likelihood of having that “break down.” Ideally you won’t have to have those surgeries, pay for those drugs, or deal with all of the follow-up!

“THE PRESERVATION OF HEALTH IS EASIER THAN THE CURE OF DISEASE.”

– BJ PALMER

HOW MUCH DO YOU VALUE YOUR SPINAL HEALTH?

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1. Berry JG, Glotzbecker M, Rodean J, Leahy I, Hall M, Ferrari L. Comorbidities and Complications of Spinal Fusion for Scoliosis. Pediatrics. 2017 Mar;139(3):e20162574. doi: 10.1542/peds.2016-2574. Epub 2017 Feb 2. PMID: 28153850; PMCID: PMC5330399.
2. Overley SC, McAnany SJ, Brochin RL, Kim JS, Merrill RK, Qureshi SA. The 5-year cost-effectiveness of two-level anterior cervical discectomy and fusion or cervical disc replacement: a Markov analysis. Spine J. 2018 Jan;18(1):63-71. doi: 10.1016/j.spinee.2017.06.036. Epub 2017 Jun 30. PMID: 28673826.