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National Chiropractic Health Month: Raising Awareness of the Benefits of Chiropractic Care

Strategic Insights

— 2 min read

This October, the American Chiropractic Association (ACA) and doctors of chiropractic nationwide will celebrate National Chiropractic Health Month with the theme "Get Started with Chiropractic." The campaign aims to raise awareness of how a non-drug approach to pain can help individuals avoid riskier treatments later. Research shows that people who start with chiropractic treatment for back pain have a significantly lower risk of requiring an opioid prescription later. As opioid overuse disorder remains a public health problem, evidence-based clinical guidelines support using non-drug therapies for back pain and other musculoskeletal conditions.

Key Takeaways:

  • The American Chiropractic Association (ACA) will celebrate National Chiropractic Health Month this October with the theme "Get Started with Chiropractic."
  • The campaign aims to raise awareness of how a non-drug approach to pain can help individuals avoid riskier treatments later.
  • Research shows that people who start with chiropractic treatment for back pain have a significantly lower risk of requiring an opioid prescription later.
  • Opioid prescriptions are down nationwide, but opioid overuse disorder remains a public health problem.
  • The FDA announced in July that it was changing labeling requirements for opioid pain medications to better emphasize and explain the risks associated with their long-term use.
  • Evidence-based clinical guidelines from the American College of Physicians, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, and the World Health Organization, among others, support using non-drug therapies for back pain and other musculoskeletal conditions.
  • Doctors of chiropractic offer patients evidence-based, non-drug treatments as well as advice on health promotion and injury prevention.
  • The ACA President, Marc Nynas, DC, stated that people today want the option of non-drug treatments to manage their pain, and research and guidelines support that approach.
  • The HandsDownBetter.org website and various social media channels will feature information about chiropractic and musculoskeletal health, using the hashtag #GetStartedwithChiropractic.

Statistics:

  • 44.6 million adults in the United States had at least one musculoskeletal pain condition, such as back or joint pain, in 2019 (source: Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 2019).
  • 64% of prescription opioids are used for chronic pain management, and 6 out of 10 Americans who misuse prescription opioids took them from a friend or family member or they got them from a doctor (source: American Society of Addiction Medicine, 2020).
  • 30% of Medicare beneficiaries use opioids for chronic pain, and the overall risk of major opioid-related harms for Medicare beneficiaries is high (source: Medicare.gov, 2020).
  • According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, opioid prescriptions decreased by 18% from 2015 to 2019 (source: CDC.gov, 2020).

Sources:

  • American Chiropractic Association (n.d.). National Chiropractic Health Month. Retrieved from
  • Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (2019). Prevalence of Musculoskeletal Pain, Health Care Use, and Health-Related Quality of Life Among Adults—United States, 1997–2017. Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report, 68(34), 752–758.
  • American Society of Addiction Medicine (2020). The Truth About Medication-Assisted Treatment (MAT) for Opioid Use Disorder. Retrieved from
  • Medicare.gov (2020). Opioid Use. Retrieved from
  • Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (2020). Opioid Prescribing Rates Among U.S. Primary Care Physicians, 2015–2019. MMWR Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report, 69(33), 1077–1080.

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