Effective Back Pain Treatment

We see many people with back pain in our Henderson, NV practice, and Dr. Russell and Dr. Janda has been able to help a lot of them find relief through various chiropractic techniques. 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.

Study Confirms Chiropractic and Medical Treatment 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 claimed both acute soreness and restricted function due to back pain. Some of the study participants received treatment via standard medical care, while the remainder were given chiropractic care as well as regular medical care, as researchers wanted to determine which patients fared better.

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

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

Where Chiropractic Care Is Successful

Although it may seem as if each approach plays a 50/50 role, there is one significant benefit that chiropractic has over medical treatment and that is in patient satisfaction. In fact, one bit of research conducted at UCLA² that was printed 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 researchers, the main factors that patients preferred 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 improve their health on their own, as well as discussing more carefully what to expect from chiropractic care.

Chiropractic Offers a Holistic Approach

Certainly, the techniques associated with chiropractic are quite different than those provided with medical therapy, but a large amount of the difference is the fact that chiropractic is a natural approach to health and well-being. Instead of focusing on just relieving the symptoms, chiropractic care involves finding the root cause of your pain, which often translates to greater improvement as you are addressing 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 recovery.

You don't have to suffer from back pain or other health issues. Give our Henderson, NV clinic a call today at (702) 990-2225. We'll do our best to help you get and stay 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.