Chiropractic and Medical Care: An Effective Combination

We see a number of back pain patients in our Arlington practice, and Dr. Ernst has been able to provide many of them get relief with chiropractic care. At the same time, dealing with back pain doesn't necessarily mean having to decide between chiropractic care and medical treatment, as many individuals use both types of care with great results.

Study Confirms Chiropractic and Medical Treatment Work Well with Each Other

In a report published by the medical journal Spine investigators¹ looked at a group of active-duty military personnel between the ages of 18 and 35 who reported both acute soreness and restricted function due to back symptoms. Some of the patients received treatment via standard medical therapy, while the rest received chiropractic adjustments as well as regular medical care, as researchers wanted to see which group fared better.

The authors found that the group that got standard medical care along with chiropractic scored "significantly better" than the patients who received 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.

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

Where Chiropractic Pulls Ahead

Although it might seem as if each method plays a 50-50 role, there is one significant advantage that chiropractic has over medical care and that is in patient satisfaction. In fact, a piece of research done at UCLA² that was published in the American Journal of Public Health found that, on average, chiropractic patients are generally more satisfied with their recovery than those undergoing medical care.

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 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 carefully what to expect from chiropractic care.

Chiropractic Is a Natural Approach to Wellness

Certainly, the strategies associated with chiropractic are very different than those available with medical treatment, but a large amount of the distinction is the fact that chiropractic is a holistic approach to health and wellness. Rather than focusing on just relieving the symptoms, chiropractic means finding the root cause of your pain, which often translates to greater improvement as you are tackling the problem at its source.

Additionally, 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 prescriptions and lasting recovery.

You don't have to endure back pain or other health issues. Give our Arlington office a call today at (360) 659-8464. 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.