Back Pain Recovery with Chiropractic Care

We see several people with back pain in our Jacksonville and Fleming Island office, and Dr. Fritz has been able to help many of them get relief through various chiropractic techniques. At the same time, dealing with back pain doesn't necessarily mean having to decide between chiropractic care and medical therapy, as many people use both types of care with great success.

Study Confirms Chiropractic and Medical Care Work Well with Each Other

In a report published by the journal Spine experts¹ 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 symptoms. Some of the test subjects engaged in treatment via standard medical therapy, while the remainder were given chiropractic adjustments along with standard medical care, as the authors wanted to see which patients fared better.

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

Thus, incorporating these two forms of treatment can greatly benefit you, the patient, offering advantages when compared to medical care alone. However, while chiropractic care 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 major advantage that chiropractic has over medical treatment and that is in patient satisfaction. In fact, one bit of research 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 preferred 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 better their health on their own, as well as discussing more carefully what to expect from chiropractic.

Chiropractic Offers a Natural Approach to Wellness

Without a doubt, the strategies associated with chiropractic are very different than those available with medical treatment, but a great deal of the difference is the fact that chiropractic is a holistic approach to health and well-being. In contrast to focusing on only relieving the symptoms, chiropractic care involves searching for the root cause of your pain, which often means greater improvement as you are tackling the problem at its source.

Furthermore, while medication is sometimes helpful for treating certain conditions, many health issues respond well to a natural approach like chiropractic. This means fewer negative responses to drugs and more permanent results.

You don't have to struggle with back pain or other health issues. Give our Jacksonville and Fleming Island clinic a call today at (904) 425-9060. We'll do everything we can to help you get and remain 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.