We see a number of people with back pain in our South Buffalo practice, and Dr. Nowak has been able to help many of them obtain 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 people use both types of care with great outcomes.
Study Confirms Chiropractic and Medical Treatment Work Well Together
In a study published by the medical journal Spine experts1 looked at a group of active-duty military personnel between the ages of 18 and 35 who were suffering from both acute soreness and limited function due to back symptoms. Some of the patients engaged in treatment via standard medical therapy, while the remainder received chiropractic adjustments as well as standard medical care, as researchers wanted to determine which patients fared better.
The authors found that the group that received 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 indicated the same amount of improvement. This was true regarding both pain and level of function at the two-and four-week marks.
Thus, incorporating these two forms of care can greatly benefit you, the patient, offering advantages when compared to medical care alone. However, while chiropractic and medicine can work alongside each other, chiropractic offers some unique advantages over medical therapy.
Where Chiropractic Care Wins
Although it might 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 done at 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 patients undergoing medical treatment.
According to the experts, the main factors that patients favored 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 improve their health on their own, as well as outlining more carefully what to expect from chiropractic.
Chiropractic Care Offers a Non-Invasive Approach to Wellness
Certainly, the strategies associated with chiropractic are quite different than those offered with medical therapy, but a great deal of the difference is the fact that chiropractic is a natural approach to health and wellness. Rather than focusing on only relieving the symptoms, chiropractic involves finding the root cause of your pain, which often results in 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 like chiropractic care. This means fewer negative responses to medications and more permanent results.
You don't have to suffer from back pain or other health problems. Give our South Buffalo office 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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