Chiropractic and Medical Care: An Effective Combination

We see a number of people with back pain in our Fleming Island, FL practice, and Select Health and Wellness has been able to provide a lot of them find relief with chiropractic. However, recovering from back problems doesn't necessarily mean having to make a choice between chiropractic care and medical treatment, as many people use both types of care with great outcomes.

Research Confirms Chiropractic and Medical Care Work Well with One Another

In a study published by the academic journal Spine researchers¹ looked at a group of active-duty military personnel between the ages of 18 and 35 who reported both acute pain and restricted function due to back-related issues. Some of the test subjects engaged in treatment via standard medical therapy, while the rest received chiropractic adjustments together with regular medical care, as researchers wanted to determine which patients fared better.

Researchers discovered that the patients who got standard medical care along with chiropractic care scored "significantly better" than the group that got medical care alone; 73% reported positive benefits in comparison to just 17% of the medical care only group who reported 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 benefits when compared to medical care alone. However, while chiropractic care and medical approaches can work together, chiropractic offers some unique advantages over medical treatment.

Where Chiropractic Wins

Although it might seem as if each method 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 piece of research conducted at UCLA² that was printed 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 researchers, the main aspects that patients favored over medical care were "self-care advice and explanation of treatment." This isn't unexpected, as chiropractors commonly spend much more time advising their patients as to how they can improve their health on their own, as well as discussing more thoroughly what to expect from chiropractic care.

Chiropractic Care Is a Natural Approach to Wellness

Without a doubt, the techniques associated with chiropractic are quite different than those offered with medical care, but a great deal of the difference is the fact that chiropractic is a holistic approach to health and well-being. Instead of focusing on just relieving the symptoms, chiropractic means 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 managing certain conditions, many health issues respond well to a natural approach like chiropractic. This means fewer negative responses to drugs and longer-lasting recovery.

You don't have to deal with back pain or other health issues. Give our Fleming Island, FL clinic a call today at (904) 425-9060. We'll do our best 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.