Effective Back Pain Treatment

We see many patients with back pain in our Salem, OR office, and Dr. Julia Robertson has been able to help many of them find relief through various chiropractic techniques. 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 study published by the medical journal Spine experts¹ looked at a group of active-duty military personnel between the ages of 18 and 35 who claimed both acute discomfort and limited function due to back-related issues. Some of the study participants engaged in treatment via standard medical care, while the rest received chiropractic care along with regular medical care, as researchers wanted to see which patients fared better.

The authors found 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 indicated the same amount of improvement. This was true regarding both pain and level of function at two and four weeks.

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 medical approaches can work alongside each other, chiropractic offers some distinct strengths over medical treatment.

Where Chiropractic Care Is Successful

Although it might seem as if each method 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 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 treatment.

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

Chiropractic Care Is a Natural Approach to Wellness

Without a doubt, the methods associated with chiropractic are quite different than those provided with medical treatment, but a great deal of the difference is the fact that chiropractic is a holistic approach to health and wellness. Instead of focusing on simply relieving the symptoms, chiropractic involves tracking down the primary cause of your pain, which often results in 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 natural forms of treatment such as chiropractic care. This means fewer negative responses to medications and lasting results.

You don't have to endure back pain or other health issues. Give our Salem, OR clinic a call today at (503) 399-7607. 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.