We see quite a few back pain patients in our Noblesville practice, and Dr. Dahlager has been able to provide many of them find relief with chiropractic. However, dealing with back pain doesn't necessarily mean having to make a choice between chiropractic care and medical treatment, as many individuals use both types of care with great success.

Study Confirms Chiropractic and Medical Treatment Work Well with Each Other

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

The authors discovered that the group that 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% 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.

Accordingly, combining 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 strengths over medical therapy.

Where Chiropractic Wins

Although it might seem as if each approach plays a 50-50 role, there is one significant advantage that chiropractic care has over medical care and that is in patient satisfaction. In fact, a piece of research conducted 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 care were "self-care advice and explanation of treatment." This isn't unexpected, as chiropractors frequently 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.

Chiropractic Care Is a Natural Approach to Wellness

Certainly, the techniques associated with chiropractic are very different than those provided with medical treatment, but a large amount of the distinction is the fact that chiropractic is a natural approach to health and well-being. In contrast to focusing on just relieving the symptoms, chiropractic care means searching for the primary 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 care. This means fewer negative side effects from medications and lasting results.

You don't have to struggle with back pain or other health issues. Give our Noblesville clinic a call today at (317) 214-7218. 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.