Chiropractic Therapy & Effective Back Pain Treatment

Chiropractic: Effective Back Pain Treatment in Alexandria

We see many patients with back pain in our Alexandria office, and Dr. Wagner has been able to help many of them get relief with chiropractic care. However, dealing with back pain doesn't necessarily mean having to decide between chiropractic care and medical care, as many individuals use both types of care with great results.

Study Confirms Chiropractic and Medical Care Work Well with One Another

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

Researchers discovered that the patients who received standard medical care combined with chiropractic care scored "significantly better" than the group that got medical care alone; 73% reported positive benefits compared to just 17 percent 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.

Therefore, integrating these two forms of treatment can greatly benefit you, the patient, offering benefits when compared to medical care alone. However, while chiropractic and medicine can work together, 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 benefit that chiropractic care has over medical treatment and that is in patient satisfaction. In fact, one bit of research conducted at 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 those undergoing medical treatment.

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

Chiropractic Care Offers a Holistic Approach to Wellness

Without a doubt, the methods associated with chiropractic are very different than those provided with medical treatment, but a great deal of the difference is the fact that chiropractic is a holistic approach to health and wellness. Rather than focusing on only relieving the symptoms, chiropractic care means tracking down the primary cause of your pain, which often results in greater improvement as you are tackling the problem at its source.

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

You don't have to deal with back pain or other health issues. Give our Alexandria office a call today at (859) 448-0056. 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.