Effective Back Pain Treatment

We see quite a few patients with back pain in our Parkland practice, and Dr. Scharf has been able to help a lot of them find relief with chiropractic care. However, recovering from back pain doesn't necessarily mean having to decide between chiropractic care and medical care, as many people utilize both types of care with great success.

Study Confirms Chiropractic and Medical Care Work Well with Each Other

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

The authors determined that the patients who got standard medical care combined with chiropractic scored "significantly better" than the patients who 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.

Thus, 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 distinct strengths 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 advantage 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 reports that, on average, chiropractic patients are generally more satisfied with their recovery than those undergoing medical care.

According to the experts, the main factors that patients preferred over medical care were "self-care advice and explanation of treatment." This isn't surprising, as chiropractors frequently spend much more time advising their patients as to how they can improve their health on their own, as well as discussing more carefully what to expect from chiropractic.

Chiropractic Care Offers a Holistic Approach

Without a doubt, the methods associated with chiropractic are quite different than those offered with medical care, but a large amount of the distinction is the fact that chiropractic is a holistic approach to health and wellness. 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 tackling 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 care. This means fewer negative responses to prescriptions and lasting results.

You don't have to endure back pain or other health problems. Give our Parkland office a call today at (954) 227-0088. We'll do everything we can 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.