Chiropractic Helping Veterans

The Magic Valley is home to many US military veterans. We are proud of our veterans and the service members who actively serve in the 116th Army National Guard in Twin Falls, Jerome, and Burley. We support you and are grateful for your service on our behalf.

Our US military veterans have made many sacrifices to ensure the freedoms we enjoy each day. Sadly, many of those sacrifices have resulted in lasting physical injury and/or chronic pain. Our Twin Falls chiropractic office has worked with VA to provide chiropractic services to veterans with neck and back pain.

According to one study in the medical journal Pain Medicine, veterans who reported moderate or severe pain levels, depression, or PTSD, were more likely to be prescribed opioid pain medication for their symptoms.

The article examined the impact of chiropractic care on utilization of opioid pain medications among veterans. The authors identified 14,025 veterans who served in Operations Enduring Freedom/Iraqi Freedom/New Dawn with at least one chiropractic visit in a VA clinic. Of those veterans 4,396 (31.3%) of them also received one or more opioid prescriptions.

The authors concluded, “Nearly one-third of OEF/OIF/OND veterans receiving VA chiropractic services also received an opioid prescription, yet the frequency of opioid prescriptions was lower after the index chiropractic visit than before.”

Lisi, A.J., Corcoran, K.L., DeRycke, E.C., Bastian, L.A., Becker, W.C., Edmond, S.N., . . . Brandt, C.A. (2018) Opioid Use Among Veterans of Recent Wars Receiving Veterans Affairs Chiropractic Care. Pain Medicine. Sep 1;19(suppl_1):S54-S60. doi: 10.1093/pm/pny114.

Our Twin Falls chiropractors have observed similar trends in opioid use among the veterans they have treated in our clinic. Our approach is integrative, we work with medical providers at the VA to provide the best possible outcome for our patients. Integrative medicine for low back pain has shown to be a more effective approach.

Another study from the journal Spine, reported that standard medical care combined with chiropractic is more effective for low back pain than without. 73% of participants in the combination therapy group rated their global improvement as completely gone, much better, or moderately better, compared with 17% in the standard medical care group.

Goertz C.M., Long, C.R., Hondras, M.A., Petri, R., Delgado, R., Lawrence, D.J., Owens, E.F., Meeker, W.C. (2013). Adding Chiropractic Manipulative Therapy to Standard Medical Care for Patients with Acute Low Back Pain: Results of a Pragmatic Randomized Comparative Effectiveness Study. Spine (Phila Pa 1976). Apr 15;38(8):627-34

Dr. Arrington utilizes integrative methods in the care of his patients. Dr. Arrington, a chiropractic physician with 15 years of experience, he is also licensed as a family nurse practitioner. He works to provide the highest quality integrated care to the Twin Falls and greater Magic Valley community. Give us a call today to see how you can benefit from the combination of medical and chiropractic care.