Chiropractic Care & Effective Back Pain Treatment

We see quite a few patients with back pain in our Overland Park, KS practice, and KC Spine and Sport has been able to help a lot of them obtain relief with chiropractic care. However, dealing with back problems doesn't necessarily mean having to decide between chiropractic care and medical therapy, as many individuals use both types of care with great outcomes.

Study Confirms Chiropractic and Medical Care 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 reported both acute pain and limited function due to back pain. Some of the test subjects received treatment via standard medical care, while the rest were given chiropractic treatment as well as regular medical care, as researchers wanted to determine which group fared better.

Researchers found that the patients who got standard medical care along with chiropractic scored "significantly better" than the patients who received medical care alone; 73% reported positive benefits in comparison 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 two and four weeks.

Thus, incorporating these two forms of care can greatly benefit you, the patient, offering advantages when compared to medical care alone. However, while chiropractic and medical approaches can work together, chiropractic offers some unique strengths over medical therapy.

Where Chiropractic Care Wins

Although it might seem as if each method plays a 50-50 role, there is one significant advantage that chiropractic has over medical treatment and that is in patient satisfaction. In fact, one bit of research done at 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 treatment.

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

Chiropractic Offers a Non-Invasive Approach to Wellness

Certainly, the techniques associated with chiropractic are quite different than those provided with medical therapy, but a large amount of the distinction is the fact that chiropractic is a natural approach to health and wellness. Rather than focusing on only relieving the symptoms, chiropractic care means finding the root cause of your pain, which often means greater improvement as you are tackling the problem at its source.

Additionally, 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 side effects from drugs and longer-lasting results.

You don't have to struggle with back pain or other health issues. Give our Overland Park, KS office a call today at (913) 766-0054. We'll do our best 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.