Effective Back Pain Treatment

We see quite a few back pain patients in our Midtown, New York, NY practice, and Dr. Vinh Tran, DC, CCSP has helped a lot of them find relief with chiropractic. However, dealing with back problems doesn't necessarily mean having to decide between chiropractic care and medical treatment, as many people utilize both types of care with great outcomes.

Study Confirms Chiropractic and Medical Care Work Well with Each Other

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

Researchers found that the group that got standard medical care combined with chiropractic scored "significantly better" than the group that got medical care alone; 73 percent reported positive benefits in comparison to just 17 percent of the medical treatment only group who reported the same amount of improvement. This was true regarding both pain and level of function at the two- and four-week marks.

Therefore, incorporating these two forms of care can greatly benefit you--the patient--offering advantages when compared to medical care alone. However, while chiropractic and medicine can work alongside each other, chiropractic offers some distinct strengths over medical treatment.

Where Chiropractic Wins

Although it may seem as if each approach plays a 50-50 role, there is one major advantage that chiropractic has over medical care 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 found that, on average, chiropractic patients are generally more satisfied with their recovery than people undergoing medical care.

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

Chiropractic Care Is a Natural Approach to Wellness

Without a doubt, the techniques associated with chiropractic are very different than those offered with medical therapy, but a large amount of the distinction is the fact that chiropractic is a holistic approach to health and wellness. Rather than focusing on just relieving the symptoms, chiropractic care involves finding the root cause of your pain, which often means 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 a natural approach such as chiropractic care. This means fewer negative side effects from medications and more permanent recovery.

You don't have to endure back pain or other health issues. Give our Midtown, New York, NY clinic a call today at (212) 729-0856. We'll work 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.