Effective Back Pain Treatment

We see a number of people with back pain in our Arlington office, and Dr. Ernst has been able to help many of them get relief with chiropractic care. At the same time, dealing with back problems doesn't necessarily mean having to make a choice between chiropractic care and medical care, as many people use both types of care with great success.

Study Confirms Chiropractic and Medical Treatment Work Well Together

In a report published by the journal Spine researchers¹ looked at a group of active-duty military personnel between the ages of 18 and 35 who claimed both acute soreness and restricted function due to back symptoms. Some of the study participants received treatment via standard medical therapy, while the remainder were given chiropractic adjustments along with regular medical care, as the authors wanted to see which patients fared better.

Researchers found that the group that got standard medical care in combination with chiropractic scored "significantly better" than the group that got medical care alone; 73 percent reported positive benefits in comparison to just 17 percent of the medical treatment 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, incorporating these two forms of treatment can greatly benefit you--the patient--offering benefits when compared to medical care alone. However, while chiropractic care and medicine can work together, chiropractic offers some unique advantages over medical treatment.

Where Chiropractic Care Pulls Ahead

Although it may seem as if each approach plays a 50/50 role, there is one major benefit that chiropractic has over medical treatment and that is in patient satisfaction. In fact, a study conducted 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 people undergoing medical care.

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

Chiropractic Care Is a Natural Approach to Wellness

Certainly, the techniques associated with chiropractic are very different than those available with medical care, but a great deal of the difference is the fact that chiropractic is a natural approach to health and well-being. Instead of focusing on simply relieving the symptoms, chiropractic care involves tracking down the primary cause of your pain, which often results in greater improvement as you are addressing the problem at its source.

Additionally, while medication is sometimes helpful for managing certain conditions, many health issues respond well to natural forms of treatment like chiropractic. This means fewer negative responses to medications and more permanent results.

You don't have to deal with back pain or other health issues. Give our Arlington clinic a call today at (360) 659-8464. We'll do our best 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.