Why is October Chiropractic Awareness Month?

October is National Cookie Month, National Roller Skating Month, and National Chiropractic Month. You might be thinking none of those really matter, but National Chiropractic Month really does have an importance. Watch the video below to find out why.

Why is October Chiropractic Awareness Month? Unfortunately, it is not just to do something nice for chiropractors. It comes from a deeper issue, which is the opioid crisis. We have had this opioid crisis for many years, and unfortunately it has just been getting worse and worse. Statistically speaking Ohio is one of the worst states when it comes to the number of opioid overdoses. Ohio has over 3000 deaths every year from opioid overuse and abuse.

You may be thinking, “what does any of this have to do with chiropractic care?” A lot of these cases start when someone goes to their doctor with back pain or neck pain. They go to their doctor and are usually directed to try taking something over the counter like an NSAID and that doesn't work. So they go back to their doctor and they get prescribed an opioid. That starts the cascade of needing more and more opioids to get the same pain relief until it becomes an addiction. And that starts the whole cascade, the whole process.

So, instead of starting down that route, the National Chiropractic Awareness Month is all about getting people to know that chiropractic care is out there. Chiropractic is available for things like neck pain and back pain, and a lot of times we can treat those better than anything as far as medications are concerned.

So, let's start by increasing the awareness about chiropractic care instead of going down the prescription route. If we can get just a small fraction of those several thousand people every year who have an opioid overdose in Ohio to know about chiropractic care and to get them to know that chiropractic is available for back pain and neck pain and that they can start here first and not the opioid route then we can really save lives. Please help spread the word about Chiropractic Awareness Month.