Chiropractic and Medical Care: An Effective Combination

We see quite a few people with back pain in our Tumwater practice, and Dr. Harrell has been able to help a lot of them find relief with chiropractic. At the same time, dealing with back problems doesn't necessarily mean having to decide between chiropractic care and medical therapy, as many individuals utilize both types of care with great outcomes.

Study Confirms Chiropractic and Medical Care Work Well with One Another

In a report published by the academic journal Spine researchers¹ 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 received treatment via standard medical care, while the remainder received chiropractic adjustments as well as standard medical care, as the authors wanted to see which group fared better.

The authors discovered that the patients who received standard medical care along with chiropractic scored "significantly better" than the group that got medical care alone; 73% reported positive benefits in comparison to just 17 percent 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.

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

Where Chiropractic Care Wins

Although it may seem as if each approach plays a 50/50 role, there is one major benefit that chiropractic has over medical care and that is in patient satisfaction. In fact, a study from UCLA² that was printed 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 researchers, the main aspects that patients preferred over medical care 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 improve their health on their own, as well as discussing more thoroughly what to expect from chiropractic.

Chiropractic Offers a Non-Invasive Approach

Without a doubt, the methods associated with chiropractic are quite different than those provided with medical care, but a large amount of the difference is the fact that chiropractic is a holistic approach to health and well-being. Instead of focusing on simply relieving the symptoms, chiropractic involves searching for the primary cause of your pain, which often results in greater improvement as you are tackling the problem at its source.

Furthermore, while medication is sometimes helpful for treating certain conditions, many health issues respond well to a natural approach such as chiropractic. This means fewer negative side effects from medications and more permanent results.

You don't have to suffer from back pain or other health problems. Give our Tumwater office a call today at (360) 489-0635. 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.