Chiropractic and Medical Care: An Effective Combination

We see many people with back pain in our Ronkonkoma office, and Dr. Priolo has been able to help a lot of them get relief with chiropractic care. At the same time, recovering from back pain doesn't necessarily mean having to make a choice between chiropractic care and medical care, as many individuals utilize both types of care with great success.

Study Confirms Chiropractic and Medical Treatment Work Well with Each Other

In a report published by the journal Spine investigators¹ looked at a group of active-duty military personnel between the ages of 18 and 35 who reported both acute discomfort and limited function due to back pain. Some of the test subjects engaged in treatment via standard medical care, while the rest were given chiropractic care together with standard medical care, as the authors wanted to see which patients fared better.

Researchers observed that the patients who received standard medical care combined with chiropractic care scored "significantly better" than the patients who received medical care alone; 73% reported positive benefits in comparison 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, integrating these two forms of care can greatly benefit you--the patient--offering benefits when compared to medical care alone. However, while chiropractic care and medical approaches can work together, chiropractic offers some distinct advantages over medical treatment.

Where Chiropractic Care Is Successful

Although it may seem as if each approach plays a 50/50 role, there is one major advantage that chiropractic care has over medical care and that is in patient satisfaction. In fact, a study done at UCLA² that was published 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 experts, the main aspects that patients liked over medical care 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 discussing more thoroughly what to expect from chiropractic care.

Chiropractic Care Offers a Holistic Approach

Without a doubt, the methods 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. Instead of focusing on simply relieving the symptoms, chiropractic involves tracking down the primary cause of your pain, which often means greater improvement as you are tackling the problem at its source.

Furthermore, while medication is sometimes helpful for managing certain conditions, many health issues respond well to natural forms of treatment like chiropractic care. This means fewer negative responses to drugs and lasting recovery.

You don't have to struggle with back pain or other health issues. Give our Ronkonkoma office a call today at (631) 676-6324. 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.