Chiropractic and Medical Care: An Effective Combination

We see quite a few patients with back pain in our Saint Paul practice, and Dr. Slater has been able to help a lot 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 treatment, as many individuals utilize both types of care with great results.

Research Confirms Chiropractic and Medical Treatment Work Well with Each Other

In a study published by the medical journal Spine experts¹ looked at a group of active-duty military personnel between the ages of 18 and 35 who were suffering from both acute discomfort and limited function due to back-related issues. Some of the test subjects received treatment via standard medical care, while the remainder received chiropractic care together with standard medical care, as researchers wanted to see which patients fared better.

The authors discovered that the group that received standard medical care combined with chiropractic care scored "significantly better" than the group that received medical care alone; 73% reported positive benefits in comparison to just 17 percent 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.

Accordingly, integrating 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 alongside each other, chiropractic offers some distinct strengths over medical therapy.

Where Chiropractic Care Is Successful

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

According to the researchers, the main factors that patients favored over medical treatment were "self-care advice and explanation of treatment." This isn't unexpected, as chiropractors tend to spend much more time advising their patients as to how they can better their health on their own, as well as outlining more thoroughly what to expect from chiropractic care.

Chiropractic Is a Natural Approach to Wellness

Certainly, the techniques associated with chiropractic are quite different than those provided with medical therapy, but a large amount of the distinction is the fact that chiropractic is a holistic approach to health and wellness. Instead of focusing on only relieving the symptoms, chiropractic means searching for the root cause of your pain, which often translates to greater improvement as you are tackling 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 prescriptions and longer-lasting recovery.

You don't have to suffer from back pain or other health problems. Give our Saint Paul office a call today at (651) 699-3366. We'll do everything we can 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.