Effective Back Pain Treatment

We see a number of people with back pain in our Great Falls practice, and Dr. Six has been able to help many of them find relief with chiropractic care. However, dealing with back problems doesn't necessarily mean having to make a choice between chiropractic care and medical care, as many people use both types of care with great outcomes.

Research Confirms Chiropractic and Medical Treatment Work Well with One Another

In a study published by the medical journal Spine researchers¹ looked at a group of active-duty military personnel between the ages of 18 and 35 who reported both acute pain and limited function due to back pain. Some of the patients engaged in treatment via standard medical therapy, while the remainder received chiropractic care in addition to standard medical care, as the authors wanted to determine which patients fared better.

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

Thus, combining 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 together, chiropractic offers some distinct advantages over medical treatment.

Where Chiropractic Care Pulls Ahead

Although it might 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 from 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 people undergoing medical treatment.

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

Chiropractic Care Is a Natural Approach to Wellness

Without a doubt, the techniques 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. Rather than focusing on simply relieving the symptoms, chiropractic means tracking down the primary cause of your pain, which often translates to 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 such as chiropractic. This means fewer negative side effects from drugs and longer-lasting recovery.

You don't have to endure back pain or other health problems. Give our Great Falls clinic a call today at (406) 452-6929. We'll do our best 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.