Effective Back Pain Treatment

We see quite a few people with back pain in our San Angelo office, and Dr. Pittman has been able to help many of them find relief with chiropractic care. At the same time, recovering from back problems doesn't necessarily mean having to decide between chiropractic care and medical therapy, as many people utilize both types of care with great results.

Study Confirms Chiropractic and Medical Treatment Work Well Together

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-related issues. Some of the study participants engaged in treatment via standard medical care, while the remainder received chiropractic care in addition to standard medical care, as the authors wanted to see which patients fared better.

Researchers determined that the group that received standard medical care combined with chiropractic scored "significantly better" than the patients who got medical care alone; 73% reported positive benefits compared to just 17% of the medical care only group who indicated the same amount of improvement. This was true regarding both pain and level of function at the two- and four-week marks.

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

Where Chiropractic Care Is Successful

Although it might seem as if each approach plays a 50-50 role, there is one significant benefit that chiropractic care has over medical care and that is in patient satisfaction. In fact, a piece of research conducted at UCLA² that was published in the American Journal of Public Health found that, on average, chiropractic patients are generally more satisfied with their recovery than people undergoing medical treatment.

According to the experts, the main aspects that patients liked over medical treatment were "self-care advice and explanation of treatment." This isn't unexpected, as chiropractors commonly spend much more time consulting with their patients as to how they can better their health on their own, as well as explaining more thoroughly what to expect from chiropractic.

Chiropractic Is a Natural Approach to Wellness

Without a doubt, the strategies associated with chiropractic are very different than those provided with medical treatment, but a large amount of the distinction is the fact that chiropractic is a natural approach to health and wellness. Rather than focusing on only relieving the symptoms, chiropractic care means tracking down the root cause of your pain, which often translates to greater improvement as you are tackling the problem at its source.

In addition, while medication is sometimes helpful for managing certain conditions, many health issues respond well to a natural approach such as chiropractic care. This means fewer negative responses to medications and lasting results.

You don't have to struggle with back pain or other health problems. Give our San Angelo office a call today at (325) 223-9355. We'll do our best 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.