Chiropractic and Medical Care: An Effective Combination

We see quite a few people with back pain in our Kettering practice, and Dr. Poelking has been able to help many of them find relief through various chiropractic techniques. However, dealing with back pain doesn't necessarily mean having to make a choice between chiropractic care and medical therapy, as many people utilize both types of care with great success.

Study Confirms Chiropractic and Medical Care Work Well Together

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 reported both acute soreness and limited function due to back pain. Some of the study participants received treatment via standard medical therapy, while the rest received chiropractic care together with standard medical care, as the authors wanted to determine which group fared better.

The authors observed that the patients who received standard medical care combined with chiropractic care scored "significantly better" than the group that got medical care alone; 73% reported positive benefits compared to just 17% 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.

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

Where Chiropractic Care Wins

Although it may seem as if each approach plays a 50-50 role, there is one major advantage that chiropractic has over medical care and that is in patient satisfaction. In fact, a study 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 experts, the main factors that patients liked over medical treatment were "self-care advice and explanation of treatment." This isn't unexpected, as chiropractors tend to spend much more time advising their patients as to how they can improve their health on their own, as well as explaining more thoroughly what to expect from chiropractic.

Chiropractic Care Is a Natural Approach to Wellness

Certainly, the techniques associated with chiropractic are very different than those offered with medical treatment, but a great deal of the difference is the fact that chiropractic is a natural approach to health and well-being. In contrast to focusing on only relieving the symptoms, chiropractic care involves searching for the primary cause of your pain, which often results in greater improvement as you are addressing the problem at its source.

Furthermore, while medication is sometimes helpful for managing certain conditions, many health issues respond well to a natural approach such as chiropractic care. This means fewer negative side effects from prescriptions and lasting results.

You don't have to struggle with back pain or other health issues. Give our Kettering clinic a call today at (937) 299-2900. 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.