We see quite a few people with back pain in our South Buffalo office, and Dr. John Nowak has been able to help a lot of them find relief with chiropractic. However, dealing with back pain doesn't necessarily mean having to make a choice between chiropractic care and medical therapy, as many individuals utilize both types of care with great results.
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 soreness and limited function due to back pain. Some of the test subjects engaged in treatment via standard medical therapy, while the rest received chiropractic adjustments in addition to standard medical care, as researchers wanted to determine which group fared better.
The authors found that the group that received 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 care only group who indicated the same amount of improvement. This was true regarding both pain and level of function at the two- and four-week marks.
Thus, integrating these two forms of care 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 unique strengths over medical therapy.
Where Chiropractic Care Pulls Ahead
Although it might seem as if each approach plays a 50/50 role, there is one major benefit that chiropractic care 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 people undergoing medical treatment.
According to the experts, the main aspects that patients liked over medical treatment were "self-care advice and explanation of treatment." This isn't surprising, as chiropractors frequently spend much more time advising 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 Care Offers a Holistic Approach
Certainly, the techniques associated with chiropractic are quite different than those available with medical care, but a great deal of the distinction is the fact that chiropractic is a natural approach to health and wellness. In contrast to focusing on just relieving the symptoms, chiropractic care involves tracking down the primary cause of your pain, which often translates to greater improvement as you are addressing the problem at its source.
Furthermore, 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 side effects from drugs and lasting recovery.
You don't have to struggle with back pain or other health problems. Give our South Buffalo clinic a call today at (716) 825-4121. We'll do everything we can to help you get and remain free from back pain.
References
- 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.
- 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.
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