We see a number of patients with back pain in our North County, St. Louis, MO office, and Dr. Mark Holland has been able to help a lot of them get relief with chiropractic care. At the same time, dealing with 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 results.
In a report published by the academic journal Spine investigators1 looked at a group of active-duty military personnel between the ages of 18 and 35 who reported 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 were given chiropractic care as well as standard medical care, as the authors wanted to see which group fared better.
Researchers discovered that the group that received standard medical care along with chiropractic scored "significantly better" than the group that 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.
Accordingly, combining these two forms of care can greatly benefit you--the patient--offering benefits when compared to medical care alone. However, while chiropractic care and medicine can work together, chiropractic offers some distinct strengths over medical therapy.
Although it may seem as if each approach plays a 50/50 role, there is one major benefit that chiropractic has over medical care and that is in patient satisfaction. In fact, a piece of research from 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 surprising, as chiropractors commonly spend much more time consulting with their patients as to how they can better their health on their own, as well as explaining more thoroughly what to expect from chiropractic.
Without a doubt, the methods associated with chiropractic are quite different than those offered with medical care, but a large amount 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 means finding the primary 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 treating certain conditions, many health issues respond well to natural forms of treatment like chiropractic. This means fewer negative responses to prescriptions and more permanent recovery.
You don't have to suffer from back pain or other health issues. Give our North County, St. Louis, MO clinic a call today at (314) 867-8888. We'll do our best to help you get and remain free from back pain.
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We have a long-standing track record or helping people get out of pain with chiropractic care. Whether you were injured last week, or have been suffering from chronic pain for years - It might only take one visit to our office in Downtown Saint Louis, MO to get you back on the path to everyday health.
