Chiropractic and Medical Care: An Effective Combination

We see quite a few back pain patients in our Buffalo practice, and Dr. John Nowak has been able to provide a lot of them get 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 individuals utilize both types of care with great success.

Study Confirms Chiropractic and Medical Treatment Work Well with One Another

In a report published by the journal Spine researchers¹ looked at a group of active-duty military personnel between the ages of 18 and 35 who claimed both acute pain and limited function due to back pain. Some of the study participants engaged in treatment via standard medical therapy, while the remainder were given chiropractic care as well as regular medical care, as the authors wanted to determine which patients fared better.

Researchers found that the patients who received standard medical care along with chiropractic care scored "significantly better" than the patients who got medical care alone; 73 percent 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 the two- and four-week marks.

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

Where Chiropractic Pulls Ahead

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, a piece 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 patients 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 commonly spend much more time consulting with their patients as to how they can improve their health on their own, as well as outlining more thoroughly what to expect from chiropractic.

Chiropractic Care Offers a Non-Invasive Approach

Without a doubt, the strategies associated with chiropractic are very 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 wellness. In contrast to 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.

Additionally, while medication is sometimes helpful for treating certain conditions, many health issues respond well to a natural approach like chiropractic. This means fewer negative responses to medications and longer-lasting recovery.

You don't have to deal with back pain or other health issues. Give our Buffalo office a call today at (716) 825-4121. We'll do everything we can 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.