Chiropractic Treatment Effective for Back Pain

We see a number of people with back pain in our Livermore office, and Haque Chiropractic Inc. has been able to help a lot of them obtain relief through various chiropractic techniques. At the same time, recovering from back pain doesn't necessarily mean having to make a choice between chiropractic care and medical therapy, as many individuals use both types of care with great outcomes.

Study Confirms Chiropractic and Medical Treatment Work Well with Each Other

In a study published by the academic journal Spine experts¹ looked at a group of active-duty military personnel between the ages of 18 and 35 who were suffering from both acute soreness and restricted function due to back symptoms. Some of the study participants engaged in treatment via standard medical care, while the remainder received chiropractic treatment along with regular medical care, as researchers wanted to see which patients fared better.

Researchers discovered that the patients who got standard medical care in combination with chiropractic care scored "significantly better" than the patients who got medical care alone; 73% reported positive benefits compared to just 17 percent of the medical treatment 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, integrating these two forms of care can greatly benefit you, the patient, offering advantages when compared to medical care alone. However, while chiropractic care and medicine can work alongside each other, chiropractic offers some distinct strengths over medical treatment.

Where Chiropractic Care Is Successful

Although it might seem as if each approach plays a 50-50 role, there is one significant advantage that chiropractic has over medical treatment 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 those undergoing medical care.

According to the researchers, the main factors that patients liked over medical care were "self-care advice and explanation of treatment." This isn't unexpected, as chiropractors typically spend much more time consulting with their patients as to how they can better their health on their own, as well as discussing more thoroughly what to expect from chiropractic.

Chiropractic Care Offers a Natural Approach to Wellness

Without a doubt, the techniques associated with chiropractic are quite different than those provided with medical treatment, but a large amount of the difference is the fact that chiropractic is a natural approach to health and wellness. Instead of focusing on just relieving the symptoms, chiropractic care involves finding the root cause of your pain, which often results in greater improvement as you are tackling 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 like chiropractic. This means fewer negative responses to medications and more permanent results.

You don't have to deal with back pain or other health problems. Give our Livermore office a call today at (925) 960-1960. 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.