Chiropractic Care Effective for Back Pain

We see a number of patients with back pain in our Boardman office, and Dr. Carradine has been able to help a lot of them get relief through various chiropractic techniques. At the same time, recovering from back problems doesn't necessarily mean having to decide between chiropractic care and medical care, as many people use both types of care with great success.

Research Confirms Chiropractic and Medical Treatment Work Well with Each Other

In a report published by the academic journal Spine investigators¹ looked at a group of active-duty military personnel between the ages of 18 and 35 who reported both acute pain and limited function due to back-related issues. Some of the test subjects engaged in treatment via standard medical therapy, while the remainder were given chiropractic treatment along with regular medical care, as researchers wanted to determine which group fared better.

The authors observed that the group that got standard medical care combined with chiropractic care scored "significantly better" than the patients who got medical care alone; 73% reported positive benefits in comparison 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 two and four weeks.

Thus, incorporating these two forms of care can greatly benefit you, the patient, offering advantages when compared to medical care alone. However, while chiropractic care and medical approaches can work together, chiropractic offers some distinct strengths over medical treatment.

Where Chiropractic Care Pulls Ahead

Although it might seem as if each approach plays a 50/50 role, there is one significant advantage that chiropractic care has over medical care and that is in patient satisfaction. In fact, a piece of research conducted 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 care.

According to the experts, the main aspects that patients preferred over medical treatment were "self-care advice and explanation of treatment." This isn't surprising, 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 discussing more carefully what to expect from chiropractic.

Chiropractic Care Offers a Holistic Approach to Wellness

Certainly, the strategies associated with chiropractic are very different than those offered with medical therapy, but a large amount of the distinction is the fact that chiropractic is a natural approach to health and well-being. Instead of focusing on simply relieving the symptoms, chiropractic involves searching for 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 treating certain conditions, many health issues respond well to a natural approach such as chiropractic. This means fewer negative side effects from drugs and more permanent results.

You don't have to deal with back pain or other health problems. Give our Boardman clinic a call today at (330) 758-4446. We'll do our best to help you get and continue to be 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.