Three new studies on Headache, lower back and neck pain suggest chiropractic methods are the least costly methods of treatment. More than ever, when you visit your doctor for a health condition, patients find out that the first few dollars are purely theirs, rather than the insurance carriers, that pay for the care they received. Ask anyone who has a large deductible plan, which is more common than ever before, and they will tell you that they need to strategize to meet this large sum before any insurance company begins to pay the doctor. Luckily, many of you pre fund these large deductibles and can use a credit card to pay the some of the bills, however, overall cost is still a concern since many of the costs have been shifted to us, the consumers, while insurance carriers continue to raise our premium costs. When we had 10 dollar copayments, cost effectiveness was appreciated but never affected our pocketbooks. Now with higher deductible plans becoming the norm, now, more than ever, we are told we need to choose the most cost effective services, even though there is little transparency in the cost of hospitalization, or the tests we may be ask to take by our doctor. Most tests are the same from facility to facility such as an MRI, or blood tests, so price checking these services makes sense. During an emergency, nobody thinks that way and when you are researching which therapies or treatments to choose for problems such as back or neck pain, the results may not only be practitioner dependent, but also profession dependent, meaning that who you visit first can make a huge difference on the effectiveness as well as the cost of the care. For problems in the musculoskeletal system, chiropractors have taken the role of primary care for the musculoskeletal system and take a holistic, or full body approach to diagnosis and care that is required for accurate diagnosis in the musculoskeletal system. Our current system is expensive partly due to too many expensive tests being used in place of a thorough musculoskeletal evaluation, a result of medical primary care having little training as well as little time to properly do this type of exam. The result is that you are often referred for therapy, a specialist who will look at the painful part and medications to reduce pain and inflammation resulting from a mechanical problem. This approach is expensive and often does not result in problems being adequately taken care of because the painful part is often the symptom, rather than the problem. A holistic approach is more thorough, and can result in better care, fewer visits and overall lower costs. It has been said that who you see first can make all the difference in your cost and experience. Three studies recently suggested that chiropractors were more cost effective in treating headaches, neck pain as well as lower back problems. This is of course, not the only studies that show this, but the evidence is growing that visiting a chiropractor first is the most cost effective way of treating these problems safely. You can check out the studies that were just published in the JMPT (Journal of Manipulative Therapeutics). There are three additional reasons that your primary doctor should be referring to a chiropractor first for conditions such as neck pain, back pain and even headaches. Believe it or not, most chiropractors will resolve your problem for less than the cost of an MRI or other test your doctor may order, and if you require medical attention, they are trained to refer you if necessary. The good news is more often than not, the chiropractor will resolve or significantly improve your problem. Check these three studies out that were done in North Carolina. http://www.jmptonline.org/article/S0161-4754(16)00055-5/abstract http://www.jmptonline.org/article/S0161-4754(16)00053-1/abstract http://www.jmptonline.org/article/S0161-4754(16)00054-3/abstract Consumer Reports as well as Bottom Line Personal has been recommending chiropractic care for its cost effectiveness and high rates of patient satisfaction. Now, more than ever is a great time to visit a chiropractor.