We see quite a few back pain patients in our South Buffalo practice, and Dr. Nowak has been able to help a lot of them get relief through various chiropractic techniques. However, dealing with 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 outcomes.
Research Confirms Chiropractic and Medical Treatment Work Well Together
In a study published by the medical 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 discomfort and limited function due to back pain. Some of the study participants engaged in treatment via standard medical care, while the remainder were given chiropractic care together with standard medical care, as the authors wanted to determine which group fared better.
The authors discovered that the patients who got standard medical care in combination with chiropractic care scored "significantly better" than the patients who received medical care alone; 73% reported positive benefits compared 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 the two- and four-week marks.
Thus, combining 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 Pulls Ahead
Although it may seem as if each method plays a 50-50 role, there is one significant 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 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 liked over medical treatment were "self-care advice and explanation of treatment." This isn't unexpected, as chiropractors tend to 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 Is a Natural Approach to Wellness
Certainly, the methods associated with chiropractic are very different than those available with medical therapy, but a large amount of the distinction is the fact that chiropractic is a natural approach to health and wellness. Instead of focusing on simply relieving the symptoms, chiropractic care involves finding the primary cause of your pain, which often means greater improvement as you are addressing the problem at its source.
In addition, while medication is sometimes helpful for treating certain conditions, many health issues respond well to natural forms of treatment such as chiropractic. This means fewer negative responses to drugs and more permanent results.
You don't have to endure back pain or other health issues. Give our South Buffalo office a call today at (716) 825-4121. We'll do our best to help you get and stay 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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