Effective Back Pain Treatment

We see quite a few patients with back pain in our Depew office, and Dr. Palmer has been able to help a lot of them get relief with chiropractic. However, dealing with back problems doesn't necessarily mean having to make a choice between chiropractic care and medical treatment, as many individuals use both types of care with great success.

Research Confirms Chiropractic and Medical Care Work Well with Each Other

In a study published by the medical journal Spine experts¹ looked at a group of active-duty military personnel between the ages of 18 and 35 who reported both acute pain and limited function due to back symptoms. Some of the test subjects engaged in treatment via standard medical therapy, while the remainder received chiropractic care together with standard medical care, as researchers wanted to see which group fared better.

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

Thus, incorporating 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 advantages over medical therapy.

Where Chiropractic Care Is Successful

Although it may seem as if each method plays a 50/50 role, there is one significant advantage that chiropractic has over medical treatment and that is in patient satisfaction. In fact, one bit of research conducted at UCLA² that was published in the American Journal of Public Health found that, on average, chiropractic patients are generally more satisfied with their recovery than those undergoing medical care.

According to the experts, the main factors that patients liked over medical treatment were "self-care advice and explanation of treatment." This isn't unexpected, 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 explaining more thoroughly what to expect from chiropractic.

Chiropractic Offers a Non-Invasive Approach

Without a doubt, the techniques associated with chiropractic are quite different than those provided with medical treatment, but a large amount of the difference is the fact that chiropractic is a holistic approach to health and wellness. In contrast to focusing on only relieving the symptoms, chiropractic means finding the root cause of your pain, which often means greater improvement as you are addressing the problem at its source.

In addition, while medication is sometimes helpful for treating certain conditions, many health issues respond well to a natural approach such as chiropractic care. This means fewer negative side effects from drugs and longer-lasting recovery.

You don't have to suffer from back pain or other health issues. Give our Depew office 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.