Pain Relief Without Medication
By Editorial Staff
Musculoskeletal pain – pain affecting the muscles, bones, joints, ligaments, and connective tissues – is one of the most widespread and disabling health problems worldwide.
Whether it presents as acute pain (a sudden strain or injury) or chronic pain (persistent discomfort lasting three months or more), it can limit movement, disrupt sleep, impact work, and degrade quality of life.
Many people instinctively reach for pain medications like non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs) or stronger prescription painkillers when they hurt. But while medications can temporarily dull symptoms, they often don't resolve the biomechanical issues that contribute to pain and can carry long-term risks.
In contrast, chiropractic care emphasizes restoring normal movement and function through hands-on care and supportive therapies. Here are five reasons chiropractic is a better option for people with musculoskeletal pain.
1. Chiropractic Care Reduces Pain Without the Side Effects of Drugs: Pain medications like NSAIDs can irritate the stomach and, with long-term use, increase risk to the kidneys and cardiovascular system. Opioid painkillers bring risks of dependence, overdose, and significant side effects. Chiropractic care does not depend on medications – instead, it utilizes spinal manipulation and other therapies that have been shown to reduce pain and improve movement.
Studies, including a review in the Journal of Alternative and Complementary Medicine, found that patients receiving chiropractic services for low back pain had a significantly lower likelihood of filling opioid prescriptions compared to those who did not seek chiropractic care, indicating reduced reliance on drugs when chiropractic care was part of the plan.
2. Spine-Related Pain (and Physical Function) Improve With Chiropractic: Scientific research supports chiropractic's effectiveness for common musculoskeletal conditions like back and neck pain:
- A 2018 study published in The Journal of Alternative and Complementary Medicine looked at data from adults with non-cancer low back pain and found that recipients of chiropractic services were much less likely to fill an opioid prescription than people treated without chiropractic care.
- A narrative review published in PMC in 2021 showed that spinal manipulative therapy is recommended by current clinical practice guidelines as part of first-line care for both neck and low back pain, often together with exercise and education.
This evidence suggests chiropractic care isn't merely a feel-good option – it can meaningfully reduce pain and help people move more effectively.
3. Chiropractic Targets Underlying Movement and Alignment Dysfunction: Medications primarily block the sensation of pain without addressing mechanical causes. Musculoskeletal pain often arises from restricted joints, imbalanced muscles or altered functional movement patterns. Your doctor of chiropractic assesses and treats these contributing factors by:
- Restoring joint mobility through manual adjustments
- Reducing muscle tension
- Rebalancing movement patterns
- Providing education on posture and activity modification
Improving how your body moves, rather than just masking pain, can lead to longer-lasting relief and better overall function. This functional focus contrasts with many medications, which temporarily interrupt pain signals without correcting the contributing biomechanical problem.
4. Less Risk and Potentially Lower Long-Term Complication Rates: Medications can come with significant potential risks – from gastrointestinal issues to long-term dependency – particularly in the case of opioids. Chiropractic care carries fewer systemic risks and avoids drug-related side effects altogether.
Large-scale systematic reviews have found that spinal manipulation is as effective as recommended allopathic (medical) therapies for chronic low back pain and perform favorably compared with other conservative approaches. For example, a comprehensive review published in the British Medical Journal showed that spinal manipulative therapy delivers effects similar to other recommended treatments for chronic low back pain – without the systemic risks associated with long-term medication use.
Clinical practice guidelines increasingly recommend nondrug options like spinal manipulation as first-line choices for many patients with musculoskeletal pain.
5. Chiropractic Care Can Lower Overall Healthcare Costs: Spine-related musculoskeletal pain is one of the most expensive health concerns in the U.S., costing tens of billions annually. A 2024 systematic review published in Chiropractic & Manual Therapies compared overall healthcare utilization and costs for adults treated for spine-related musculoskeletal pain with chiropractic care versus traditional medical management. The review looked at 44 studies and found that patients who received chiropractic had:
- Fewer opioid prescriptions and injections
- Fewer surgeries and specialist referrals
- Fewer hospitalizations and emergency-department visits
- Lower overall downstream healthcare costs when chiropractic was the first point of care
None of the studies included in the review found higher long-term costs associated with chiropractic care compared to conventional medical management. This suggests that, beyond pain relief alone, chiropractic care may reduce the burden on patients and the healthcare system by reducing the need for costly procedures and chronic medication use.
What This Means for You (and Millions of Others)
Musculoskeletal pain – whether fleeting or chronic – can be life-altering. Medications generally don't fix the underlying causes and come with systemic risks. Chiropractic care, by focusing on restoring movement, alignment and function, offers an approach that more and more people are realizing every day is not only effective for pain relief, but also empowering and cost-efficient over time.
