Chiropractic and Medical Care: An Effective Combination

We see many back pain patients in our Woburn & Chelmsford, MA practice, and Dr. James Ellis & Dr. Lyndsay Martin has been able to help many of them find relief with chiropractic. However, dealing with back problems doesn't necessarily mean having to decide between chiropractic care and medical care, as many people utilize both types of care with great success.

Research Confirms Chiropractic and Medical Care Work Well Together

In a study published by the medical 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 received treatment via standard medical care, while the rest received chiropractic adjustments in addition to regular medical care, as researchers wanted to see which patients fared better.

The authors discovered that the group that received standard medical care combined with chiropractic scored "significantly better" than the patients who got medical care alone; 73 percent reported positive benefits in comparison 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.

Therefore, combining these two forms of care 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 distinct advantages over medical therapy.

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 has over medical treatment and that is in patient satisfaction. In fact, a piece of research done at UCLA² that was printed in the American Journal of Public Health found that, on average, chiropractic patients are generally more satisfied with their recovery than people undergoing medical treatment.

According to the experts, the main aspects 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 consulting with their patients as to how they can improve their health on their own, as well as explaining 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 available with medical therapy, 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 involves finding the root cause of your pain, which often translates to 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 like chiropractic. This means fewer negative side effects from prescriptions and more permanent recovery.

You don't have to struggle with back pain or other health issues. Give our Woburn & Chelmsford, MA clinic a call today at (781) 460-0939. 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.