Chiropractic and Medical Care: An Effective Combination

We see a number of people with back pain in our Sunnyvale, CA practice, and Dr. Jamie Stern has been able to provide a lot of them find relief with chiropractic care. However, dealing with back pain doesn't necessarily mean having to make a choice between chiropractic care and medical therapy, as many people use both types of care with great results.

Research Confirms Chiropractic and Medical Treatment Work Well with One Another

In a study published by the journal Spine experts¹ looked at a group of active-duty military personnel between the ages of 18 and 35 who were suffering from both acute soreness and limited function due to back pain. Some of the patients engaged in treatment via standard medical therapy, while the remainder were given chiropractic care in addition to standard medical care, as the authors wanted to see which patients fared better.

The authors found that the patients who received standard medical care along 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.

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

Where Chiropractic Pulls Ahead

Although it may seem as if each approach plays a 50-50 role, there is one significant advantage that chiropractic care has over medical treatment and that is in patient satisfaction. In fact, a piece of research done 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 preferred over medical treatment were "self-care advice and explanation of treatment." This isn't unexpected, 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 care.

Chiropractic Care Offers a Holistic Approach

Certainly, the methods associated with chiropractic are very different than those offered with medical therapy, but a large amount of the difference is the fact that chiropractic is a natural approach to health and wellness. In contrast to focusing on just relieving the symptoms, chiropractic involves tracking down the root cause of your pain, which often translates to greater improvement as you are addressing 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 such as chiropractic. This means fewer negative side effects from prescriptions and lasting recovery.

You don't have to endure back pain or other health issues. Give our Sunnyvale, CA office a call today at (415) 308-7636. We'll do everything we can 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.