Chiropractic and Medical Care: An Effective Combination

We see quite a few back pain patients in our Estero practice, and Chiropractic Care & Rehab Center has helped a lot of them get relief through various chiropractic techniques. At the same time, recovering from back pain doesn't necessarily mean having to decide between chiropractic care and medical therapy, as many individuals use both types of care with great success.

Study Confirms Chiropractic and Medical Care Work Well with One Another

In a report published by the medical journal Spine experts¹ looked at a group of active-duty military personnel between the ages of 18 and 35 who were suffering from both acute pain and restricted function due to back symptoms. Some of the patients engaged in treatment via standard medical therapy, while the rest were given chiropractic adjustments in addition to regular medical care, as researchers wanted to determine which patients fared better.

The authors discovered that the group that got standard medical care in combination with chiropractic scored "significantly better" than the group that got medical care alone; 73% reported positive benefits compared to just 17% of the medical treatment only group who reported the same amount of improvement. This was true regarding both pain and level of function at two and four weeks.

Therefore, combining these two forms of care can greatly benefit you--the patient--offering benefits when compared to medical care alone. However, while chiropractic and medicine can work alongside each other, chiropractic offers some distinct strengths over medical therapy.

Where Chiropractic Wins

Although it may seem as if each approach plays a 50/50 role, there is one major benefit that chiropractic care has over medical treatment and that is in patient satisfaction. In fact, a study done at UCLA² that was published in the American Journal of Public Health reports that, on average, chiropractic patients are generally more satisfied with their recovery than people undergoing medical treatment.

According to the experts, the main factors that patients liked over medical care were "self-care advice and explanation of treatment." This isn't surprising, as chiropractors frequently spend much more time consulting with their patients as to how they can improve their health on their own, as well as explaining more thoroughly what to expect from chiropractic.

Chiropractic Care Is a Natural Approach to Wellness

Certainly, the methods associated with chiropractic are very different than those available with medical treatment, but a great deal of the difference is the fact that chiropractic is a natural approach to health and wellness. Rather than focusing on just relieving the symptoms, chiropractic care involves searching for the root cause of your pain, which often means greater improvement as you are addressing the problem at its source.

Furthermore, while medication is sometimes helpful for treating certain conditions, many health issues respond well to natural forms of treatment such as chiropractic care. This means fewer negative side effects from drugs and longer-lasting results.

You don't have to endure back pain or other health issues. Give our Estero office a call today at (239) 495-1166. We'll do our best to help you get and continue to be free from back pain.

References

1. Goertz CM, Long CR, Hondras MA, Petri R, Delgado R, Lawrence DJ, Owens EF, Meeker WC. Adding chiropractic manipulative therapy to standard medical care for patients with acute low back pain: results of a pragmatic randomized comparative effectiveness study. Spine 2013;38(8):627-634.
2. Hertzman-Miller RP1, Morgenstern H, Hurwitz EL, Yu F, Adams AH, Harber P, Kominski GF. Comparing the satisfaction of low back pain patients randomized to receive medical or chiropractic care: results from the UCLA low-back pain study. American Journal of Public Health 2002;92(10):1628-1633.