Chiropractic and Medical Care: An Effective Combination

We see many people with back pain in our New York practice, and Dr. Valente has been able to help a lot of them get relief with chiropractic care. At the same time, dealing with back pain doesn't necessarily mean having to make a choice between chiropractic care and medical care, as many individuals use both types of care with great outcomes.

Research Confirms Chiropractic and Medical Care Work Well with Each Other

In a report published by the medical journal Spine researchers¹ 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-related issues. Some of the test subjects engaged in treatment via standard medical therapy, while the rest were given chiropractic care along with regular medical care, as the authors wanted to determine which group fared better.

The authors determined that the group that received standard medical care along with chiropractic care scored "significantly better" than the patients who got medical care alone; 73 percent reported positive benefits in comparison to just 17% 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, incorporating these two forms of treatment can greatly benefit you--the patient--offering benefits when compared to medical care alone. However, while chiropractic and medicine can work together, chiropractic offers some unique strengths 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 benefit that chiropractic care has over medical care and that is in patient satisfaction. In fact, one bit of research from 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 treatment.

According to the experts, the main aspects that patients preferred over medical care 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 improve their health on their own, as well as discussing more carefully what to expect from chiropractic care.

Chiropractic Offers a Non-Invasive Approach

Without a doubt, the strategies associated with chiropractic are very different than those offered with medical treatment, but a great deal of the difference is the fact that chiropractic is a holistic approach to health and well-being. Instead of focusing on just relieving the symptoms, chiropractic 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 natural forms of treatment like chiropractic care. This means fewer negative responses to drugs and longer-lasting recovery.

You don't have to suffer from back pain or other health issues. Give our New York office a call today at (917) 338-7917. 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.