Effective Back Pain Treatment

Effective Back Pain Treatment

We see many patients with back pain in our Prescott practice, and Weary Chiropractic Clinic has been able to help many of them find relief with chiropractic. However, dealing with back pain doesn't necessarily mean having to decide between chiropractic care and medical treatment, as many individuals utilize both types of care with great outcomes.

Research Confirms Chiropractic and Medical Treatment Work Well Together

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 reported both acute discomfort and limited function due to back-related issues. Some of the test subjects engaged in treatment via standard medical care, while the rest received chiropractic adjustments along with standard medical care, as the authors wanted to determine which group fared better.

The authors determined that the group that got standard medical care combined with chiropractic scored "significantly better" than the patients who got medical care alone; 73% 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 the two- and four-week marks.

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

Where Chiropractic Care Pulls Ahead

Although it might seem as if each method 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, one bit of research done at 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 patients undergoing medical treatment.

According to the researchers, the main factors that patients liked 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 improve their health on their own, as well as explaining more carefully what to expect from chiropractic.

Chiropractic Is a Natural Approach to Wellness

Without a doubt, the strategies associated with chiropractic are quite different than those offered with medical care, but a large amount of the difference is the fact that chiropractic is a holistic approach to health and well-being. Rather than focusing on just relieving the symptoms, chiropractic care means searching for the root cause of your pain, which often means greater improvement as you are tackling the problem at its source.

In addition, 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 prescriptions and more permanent results.

You don't have to deal with back pain or other health issues. Give our Prescott office a call today at (928) 778-2227. 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.