Effective Back Pain Treatment

We see quite a few back pain patients in our Texarkana office, and Back Pain Chiropractic has been able to help a lot of them find relief through various chiropractic techniques. At the same time, dealing with back pain doesn't necessarily mean having to decide between chiropractic care and medical treatment, as many individuals utilize both types of care with great outcomes.

Study Confirms Chiropractic and Medical Care Work Well Together

In a study published by the academic journal Spine researchers¹ looked at a group of active-duty military personnel between the ages of 18 and 35 who reported both acute soreness and restricted function due to back-related issues. Some of the test subjects engaged in treatment via standard medical therapy, while the remainder were given chiropractic adjustments in addition to regular medical care, as researchers wanted to determine which group fared better.

The authors found that the patients who received standard medical care in combination with chiropractic care scored "significantly better" than the group that got medical care alone; 73 percent reported positive benefits in comparison to just 17 percent of the medical care only group who indicated the same amount of improvement. This was true regarding both pain and level of function at two and four weeks.

Therefore, incorporating these two forms of treatment can greatly benefit you--the patient--offering benefits when compared to medical care alone. However, while chiropractic and medicine can work together, chiropractic offers some unique advantages 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 advantage that chiropractic has over medical care and that is in patient satisfaction. In fact, a study from UCLA² that was printed in the American Journal of Public Health found that, on average, chiropractic patients are generally more satisfied with their recovery than patients undergoing medical care.

According to the researchers, the main factors that patients preferred over medical treatment 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 improve their health on their own, as well as outlining more carefully what to expect from chiropractic.

Chiropractic Offers a Non-Invasive Approach

Without a doubt, the methods associated with chiropractic are quite different than those available with medical treatment, but a large amount of the distinction is the fact that chiropractic is a natural approach to health and well-being. Rather than focusing on only relieving the symptoms, chiropractic care means searching for the primary cause of your pain, which often means 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 like chiropractic care. This means fewer negative responses to medications and longer-lasting results.

You don't have to struggle with back pain or other health issues. Give our Texarkana office a call today at (870) 774-0951. We'll do our best to help you get and remain 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.