Spinal manipulation plus home exercise shown to be more effective than home exercise alone for sciatica

New study from the Annals of Internal Medicine journal on a very disabling condition commonly called sciatica (leg pain from a pinced nerve in the low back). This comparitive study found that spinal manipulation (adjustment) plus home exercise and advise gave significantly better outcomes at 12 weeks than home exercise and advise alone.
I have had many patients over the years with severe sciatica tell me that the pain was so bad they wished someone would cut their leg off!
Even the narcotic drugs are mostly ineffective for more severe nerve pain.
Has anyone had experience with a severe pinched nerve?

Spinal Manipulation and Home Exercise With Advice for Subacute and Chronic Back-Related Leg Pain

How to Measure a Medical Treatment’s Potential for Harm

Now for an article on the second metric called NNH (number needed to harm)...how many people would need to receive a particular treatment for one person to be harmed. 
Again I would highly encourage you to learn these two metrics as they could greatly help you with medical decisions and some day even help you make a life or death decision.

How to Measure a Medical Treatment’s Potential for Harm

Can This Treatment Help Me? There’s a Statistic for That

My next two posts will be articles reviewing two medical statistical metrics that I highly encourage you to learn and utilize. They can greatly help you make medical diagnostic and treatment decisions. These metrics are NNT (number needed to treat) and NNH (number needed to harm). They were developed in the 1980's and help determine the benefit versus risk of medical procedures.
Let me know if you were familiar with these or have any questions.

Can This Treatment Help Me? There’s a Statistic for That