Chiropractic and Medical Care: An Effective Combination

We see a number of people with back pain in our Jacksonville, FL office, and Dr. Michael Chanatry has been able to help many of them get relief with chiropractic care. 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 results.

Study Confirms Chiropractic and Medical Care Work Well with One Another

In a report 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 pain and limited function due to back symptoms. Some of the test subjects engaged in treatment via standard medical care, while the remainder were given chiropractic adjustments as well as regular medical care, as researchers wanted to see which patients fared better.

Researchers observed that the patients who got standard medical care in combination with chiropractic scored "significantly better" than the group that received medical care alone; 73 percent reported positive benefits compared to just 17% 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.

Therefore, incorporating these two forms of care can greatly benefit you--the patient--offering advantages when compared to medical care alone. However, while chiropractic care and medicine can work alongside each other, chiropractic offers some distinct advantages over medical therapy.

Where Chiropractic Care Is Successful

Although it might seem as if each method plays a 50/50 role, there is one major advantage that chiropractic care has over medical treatment 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 care.

According to the experts, 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 Care Is a Natural Approach to Wellness

Without a doubt, the methods associated with chiropractic are very different than those offered with medical therapy, but a large amount of the distinction is the fact that chiropractic is a holistic approach to health and well-being. In contrast to focusing on only relieving the symptoms, chiropractic involves tracking down the primary cause of your pain, which often results in 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 side effects from medications and longer-lasting recovery.

You don't have to endure back pain or other health issues. Give our Jacksonville, FL clinic a call today at (904) 743-6700. We'll do our best to help you get and continue to be 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.