Effective Back Pain Treatment

We see a number of back pain patients in our Depew office, and Dr. Palmer has been able to help many of them get relief with chiropractic. At the same time, dealing with back pain doesn't necessarily mean having to decide between chiropractic care and medical therapy, as many individuals utilize both types of care with great success.

Research Confirms Chiropractic and Medical Care Work Well Together

In a report published by the journal Spine investigators¹ looked at a group of active-duty military personnel between the ages of 18 and 35 who reported both acute discomfort and limited function due to back pain. Some of the patients engaged in treatment via standard medical therapy, while the remainder received chiropractic adjustments as well as standard medical care, as researchers wanted to determine which patients fared better.

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

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

Where Chiropractic Care Pulls Ahead

Although it may seem as if each approach plays a 50-50 role, there is one significant advantage that chiropractic 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 patients undergoing medical treatment.

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

Chiropractic Is a Natural Approach to Wellness

Without a doubt, the techniques associated with chiropractic are quite different than those available with medical treatment, but a great deal of the distinction is the fact that chiropractic is a holistic approach to health and wellness. Instead of focusing on just relieving the symptoms, chiropractic care means searching for the root cause of your pain, which often means greater improvement as you are tackling the problem at its source.

In addition, while medication is sometimes helpful for managing certain conditions, many health issues respond well to a natural approach such as chiropractic care. This means fewer negative responses to prescriptions and lasting results.

You don't have to deal with back pain or other health problems. Give our Depew clinic a call today at (716) 668-2225. We'll do our best to help you get and remain 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.