Chiropractic and Medical Care: An Effective Combination

We see quite a few people with back pain in our District Heights, MD practice, and Dr. Ashkan Aazami has helped many of them find 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 treatment, as many people use both types of care with great success.

Research Confirms Chiropractic and Medical Treatment Work Well with One Another

In a study published by the medical journal Spine investigators¹ looked at a group of active-duty military personnel between the ages of 18 and 35 who claimed both acute discomfort and limited function due to back pain. Some of the study participants received treatment via standard medical therapy, while the remainder received chiropractic adjustments as well as regular medical care, as researchers wanted to determine which patients fared better.

The authors found that the group that got standard medical care in combination with chiropractic scored "significantly better" than the patients who received 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.

Thus, combining 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 together, chiropractic offers some unique advantages over medical treatment.

Where Chiropractic Wins

Although it might seem as if each method plays a 50/50 role, there is one major advantage that chiropractic has over medical care and that is in patient satisfaction. In fact, a piece of research conducted 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 those undergoing medical care.

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

Chiropractic Is a Natural Approach to Wellness

Without a doubt, the techniques associated with chiropractic are very different than those provided 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 care involves finding the root cause of your pain, which often translates to greater improvement as you are tackling the problem at its source.

In addition, while medication is sometimes helpful for treating certain conditions, many health issues respond well to natural forms of treatment such as chiropractic care. This means fewer negative responses to drugs and lasting results.

You don't have to suffer from back pain or other health issues. Give our District Heights, MD clinic a call today at (301) 322-7777. 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.