Chiropractic Therapy and Medical Care: An Effective Combination

We see a number of people with back pain in our Alpharetta office, and Dr. Berklich has been able to help many of them get relief with chiropractic care. At the same time, dealing with back pain doesn't necessarily mean having to decide between chiropractic care and medical care, as many individuals utilize both types of care with great success.

Research Confirms Chiropractic and Medical Treatment Work Well Together

In a study published by the journal Spine researchers¹ looked at a group of active-duty military personnel between the ages of 18 and 35 who reported both acute pain and limited function due to back symptoms. Some of the study participants engaged in treatment via standard medical therapy, while the remainder received chiropractic therapy in addition to standard medical care, as the authors wanted to determine which group fared better.

Researchers observed that the group that got standard medical care combined with chiropractic scored "significantly better" than the group that received medical care alone; 73 percent reported positive benefits compared to just 17 percent of the medical care 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.

Therefore, integrating 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 therapy.

Where Chiropractic Care Is Successful

Although it may seem as if each approach plays a 50-50 role, there is one major 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 those undergoing medical care.

According to the experts, the main aspects that patients favored 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 better their health on their own, as well as outlining more carefully what to expect from chiropractic care.

Chiropractic Offers a Holistic Approach to Wellness

Without a doubt, the strategies associated with chiropractic are quite different than those available with medical care, but a large amount of the distinction is the fact that chiropractic is a holistic approach to health and wellness. Instead of focusing on simply relieving the symptoms, chiropractic means searching for the primary cause of your pain, which often means 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 natural forms of treatment like chiropractic. This means fewer negative responses to medications and more permanent results.

You don't have to suffer from back pain or other health problems. Give our Alpharetta clinic a call today at (770) 475-2225. We'll do everything we can 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.