Call: 239-961-6405
Email: drbrandenblaustein@gmail.com

Dr. Branden Blaustein is the owner and chiropractor of Fitness Chiropractic, a chiropractic clinic located in SW Florida. Please take a look below at current evidence and research that has been conducted through the years which have highlighted and revealed the remarkable benefits of chiropractic care as well as other treatments commonly used in chiropractic practice. Evidence supports chiropractic care, however, not all chiropractors follow the evidence or practice according to what research has concluded. It is therefore incredibly important for the prospective patient to select the chiropractor wisely to ensure s/he will be provided with treatments that work and that have the evidence to support it. To learn more about the treatments we offer, see the "Services" tab above. For any questions or to schedule an appointment, please call 239-961-6405 or email: drbrandenblaustein@gmail.com

“People who were mostly treated by chiropractors had, on average, less expensive medical services and shorter initial periods of disability than cases treated by physiotherapists and medical physicians. This clear trend deserves some attention considering that chiropractors are the only group of providers who explicitly state that they have an effective treatment approach to maintain health.”

Cifuentes et al. (2011) Health Maintenance Care in Work-Related Low Back Pain and its Association With Disability Recurrence. Journal of Occupational and Environmental Medicine pp 190-198

“For patients with common or mechanical back pain and neck pain/headache there is now a change from extensive diagnostic testing, rest, medication for pain control and surgical intervention based on structural pathology as in traditional medical practice, to exercise, manual treatments, early mobilization of patients and education about the spine and lifestyle, based on functional pathology as in traditional chiropractic practice. This management approach is not only effective but highly cost-effective.”

Chapman-Smith, David LL.B. The Chiropractic Report. (2008) The Chiropractic Profession: Basic Facts, Independent Evaluations, Common Questions Answered. Vol 22 (5) pp1-8.

In a comparative-effectiveness trial, 94% of manual-thrust manipulation (chiropractic) recipients experienced a 30% reduction in their pain, compared with only 54% of medical care recipients.

Schneider M et. al. Comparison of spinal manipulation methods and usual medical care for acute and subacute low back pain. Spine 2015; 40(4):209-217.

“Many medical therapies are of questionable validity or are clearly inadequate. Our reading of the literature suggests that chiropractic manipulation is safer than medical management of low back pain.” “There is also some evidence in the literature to suggest that spinal manipulations are less safe and less effective when performed by non-chiropractic professionals.”

Professor Pran Manga Ph.D. University of Ottawa. The Manga Report. (1993) An Independent Report Commissioned by the Ontario Provincial Government in Canada.

Chiropractors are the highest-rated healthcare practitioner for low-back pain treatments above physical therapists (PTs), specialist physician/MD (i.e., neurosurgeons, neurologists, orthopaedic surgeons), and primary care physician/MD (i.e., family or internal medicine).

Consumer Reports Health Ratings Center. Relief for your aching back: What worked for our readers. ConsumerReports.org; March 2013.

“Three perceived problems – the education of chiropractors, including the ability to diagnose; the lack of scientific evidence of effectiveness of chiropractic manipulation; and potential danger from manipulation, especially cervical manipulation – were answered and dismissed as unfounded.”

Chapman-Smith, David LL.B. The Chiropractic Report. (2008) The Chiropractic Profession: Basic Facts, Independent Evaluations, Common Questions Answered. Vol 22 (5) pp1-8.

Three in four people who saw a chiropractor in the last year (77%) described chiropractic care as “very effective."

“One in Four Americans Sought Care for Neck and Back Pain Last Year,” Gallup.com, accessed November 2018: http://www.gallup.com/poll/194984/one-four-adults-sought-care-neck-back-pain-last-year.aspx?g_source=Well-Being&g_medium=newsfeed&g_campaign=tiles.

In a consumer survey, chiropractic outperformed all other back pain treatments, including prescription medication, deep-tissue massage, yoga, pilates, and over-the-counter medication therapies.

Consumer Reports Health Ratings Center. Back-Pain Treatments. ConsumerReports.org; July 2011.

A systematic review/meta-analysis published in the Journal of the American Medical Association in 2017 supports the use of spinal manipulative therapy as a first-line treatment for acute low back pain.

Paige, N. M., Miake-Lye, I. M., Booth, M. S., Beroes, J. M., Mardian, A. S., Dougherty, P., Shekelle, P. G. (2017). Association of Spinal Manipulative Therapy With Clinical Benefit and Harm for Acute Low Back Pain: Systematic Review and Meta-analysis. JAMA, 317(14), 1451–1460. https://doi.org/10.1001/jama.2017.3086.

In 2017, the American College of Physicians released an update to its low back pain treatment guideline that recommends first using non-drug treatments, such as spinal manipulation (a centerpiece of chiropractic care), for acute and chronic low back pain.

Qaseem, A., Wilt, T. J., McLean, R. M., Forciea, M. A., & for the Clinical Guidelines Committee of the American College of Physicians. (2017). Noninvasive Treatments for Acute, Subacute, and Chronic Low Back Pain: A Clinical Practice Guideline From the American College of Physicians. Annals of Internal Medicine, 166(7), 514. https://doi.org/10.7326/M16-2367.

In 2015, the Joint Commission, the organization that accredits more than 20,000 health care systems in the U.S. (including every major hospital), recognized the value of non-drug approaches by adding chiropractic to its pain management standard.

Clarification of the Pain Management Standard. Joint Commission. https://www.jointcommission.org/assets/1/18/Clarification_of_the_Pain_Management__Standard.pdf