Research estimates that 15 to 20 percent of adults have back pain per year, while 50 to 80 percent experience at least one episode of back pain in their lifetime. With such a common ailment, one would think that conventional treatment methods would be very effective.
More than two decades ago, Dr. Robert D. Sibley, Jr. often performed surgery on patients with back and neck problems at the Orthopaedic Hospital in Los Angeles. However, he became concerned that some of his patients only received temporary relief, while others even got worse.
According to research, 43 percent of people who do not need surgery and are treated with other methods have their back pain recur within one year. For patients who do qualify for surgery, clinical trials “indicate that only a small proportion of patients do well from surgery.”
