Chiropractic and Medical Care: An Effective Combination

We see many back pain patients in our Cary practice, and Dr. Gugerli has been able to help a lot of them get relief with chiropractic. However, dealing with back problems doesn't necessarily mean having to make a choice between chiropractic care and medical treatment, as many people use both types of care with great success.

Research Confirms Chiropractic and Medical Care Work Well with Each Other

In a report published by the academic journal Spine experts¹ looked at a group of active-duty military personnel between the ages of 18 and 35 who reported both acute soreness and restricted function due to back-related issues. Some of the study participants received treatment via standard medical care, while the remainder received chiropractic adjustments as well as standard medical care, as researchers wanted to determine which group fared better.

The authors determined that the group that received standard medical care along with chiropractic care scored "significantly better" than the group that received medical care alone; 73% reported positive benefits compared to just 17% of the medical care only group who indicated the same amount of improvement. This was true regarding both pain and level of function at the two- and four-week marks.

Thus, 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 together, chiropractic offers some distinct advantages over medical therapy.

Where Chiropractic Care Is Successful

Although it might seem as if each method 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 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 people undergoing medical care.

According to the researchers, the main factors that patients favored over medical treatment 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 outlining more thoroughly what to expect from chiropractic.

Chiropractic Care Offers a Holistic Approach

Certainly, the strategies associated with chiropractic are very different than those offered with medical therapy, but a great deal of the difference is the fact that chiropractic is a holistic approach to health and well-being. Rather than focusing on only relieving the symptoms, chiropractic involves finding the root cause of your pain, which often results in greater improvement as you are addressing the problem at its source.

In addition, while medication is sometimes helpful for managing certain conditions, many health issues respond well to natural forms of treatment such as chiropractic. This means fewer negative side effects from drugs and more permanent recovery.

You don't have to deal with back pain or other health issues. Give our Cary office a call today at (919) 589-0909. 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.