Effective Back Pain Treatment

We see many patients with back pain in our Texarkana, Atlanta practice, and Dr. Swanson has been able to help many of them find relief with chiropractic care. At the same time, dealing with 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.

Research Confirms Chiropractic and Medical Care Work Well with One Another

In a report published by the journal Spine researchers¹ looked at a group of active-duty military personnel between the ages of 18 and 35 who claimed both acute pain and limited function due to back-related issues. Some of the study participants received treatment via standard medical therapy, while the remainder were given chiropractic adjustments as well as regular medical care, as researchers wanted to determine which patients fared better.

The authors discovered that the patients who received standard medical care combined with chiropractic care scored "significantly better" than the group that got medical care alone; 73 percent reported positive benefits compared 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 two and four weeks.

Therefore, integrating these two forms of treatment can greatly benefit you--the patient--offering advantages when compared to medical care alone. However, while chiropractic and medical approaches can work alongside each other, chiropractic offers some unique strengths over medical treatment.

Where Chiropractic Care Is Successful

Although it may seem as if each approach plays a 50/50 role, there is one significant benefit that chiropractic 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 reports that, on average, chiropractic patients are generally more satisfied with their recovery than patients undergoing medical care.

According to the researchers, the main aspects that patients preferred over medical care were "self-care advice and explanation of treatment." This isn't unexpected, as chiropractors frequently 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 Care Is a Natural Approach to Wellness

Certainly, the techniques associated with chiropractic are quite different than those available 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 only relieving the symptoms, chiropractic means searching for 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 treating certain conditions, many health issues respond well to a natural approach like chiropractic. This means fewer negative side effects from medications and longer-lasting results.

You don't have to suffer from back pain or other health issues. Give our Texarkana, Atlanta clinic a call today at (903) 792-2060. 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.