Chiropractic and Medical Care: An Effective Combination

We see a number of people with back pain in our Henderson, NV practice, and Dr. Russell and Dr. Janda has helped a lot of them find relief with chiropractic care. At the same time, recovering from back pain doesn't necessarily mean having to decide between chiropractic care and medical treatment, as many people use both types of care with great results.

Research Confirms Chiropractic and Medical Treatment Work Well with One Another

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 claimed both acute soreness and limited function due to back symptoms. Some of the test subjects engaged in treatment via standard medical therapy, while the remainder were given chiropractic care in addition to regular medical care, as researchers wanted to see which group fared better.

The authors found that the patients who got standard medical care along with chiropractic scored "significantly better" than the group that received 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.

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

Where Chiropractic Wins

Although it may seem as if each approach plays a 50/50 role, there is one major advantage that chiropractic care has over medical treatment and that is in patient satisfaction. In fact, one bit of research from 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 researchers, the main factors that patients liked over medical care were "self-care advice and explanation of treatment." This isn't unexpected, as chiropractors frequently spend much more time consulting with their patients as to how they can better their health on their own, as well as explaining more carefully what to expect from chiropractic.

Chiropractic Offers a Non-Invasive Approach

Without a doubt, the strategies associated with chiropractic are quite different than those provided with medical therapy, but a large amount of the distinction is the fact that chiropractic is a natural approach to health and well-being. Instead of focusing on only relieving the symptoms, chiropractic care means searching for the primary 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. This means fewer negative responses to drugs and longer-lasting results.

You don't have to deal with back pain or other health issues. Give our Henderson, NV office a call today at (702) 990-2225. We'll do everything we can 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.