Effective Back Pain Treatment

We see quite a few back pain patients in our Corvallis practice, and Dr. Lach has been able to help many of them find relief with chiropractic care. At the same time, dealing with back pain doesn't necessarily mean having to make a choice between chiropractic care and medical treatment, as many individuals utilize both types of care with great results.

Study Confirms Chiropractic and Medical Treatment Work Well with Each Other

In a study published by the medical journal Spine investigators¹ looked at a group of active-duty military personnel between the ages of 18 and 35 who claimed both acute discomfort and restricted function due to back-related issues. Some of the patients received treatment via standard medical care, while the rest were given chiropractic adjustments together with regular medical care, as researchers wanted to see which patients fared better.

Researchers observed 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 compared to just 17% of the medical treatment 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 treatment can greatly benefit you--the patient--offering advantages when compared to medical care alone. However, while chiropractic care and medical approaches can work alongside each other, chiropractic offers some unique strengths over medical treatment.

Where Chiropractic Care Wins

Although it might seem as if each method 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 piece of research from UCLA² that was published in the American Journal of Public Health reports that, on average, chiropractic patients are generally more satisfied with their recovery than people undergoing medical treatment.

According to the researchers, the main aspects that patients preferred over medical treatment were "self-care advice and explanation of treatment." This isn't unexpected, as chiropractors typically spend much more time consulting with 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 Is a Natural Approach to Wellness

Without a doubt, the methods associated with chiropractic are quite different than those provided with medical therapy, but a large amount of the difference is the fact that chiropractic is a natural approach to health and well-being. Rather than 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 addressing the problem at its source.

Furthermore, while medication is sometimes helpful for treating 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 suffer from back pain or other health problems. Give our Corvallis office a call today at (541) 754-1947. 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.