We see quite a few people with back pain in our North County St. Louis, MO office, and Dr. Holland has been able to help a lot of them get relief through various chiropractic techniques. However, recovering from back pain doesn't necessarily mean having to make a choice between chiropractic care and medical care, as many individuals use both types of care with great outcomes.
In a report published by the medical journal Spine experts1 looked at a group of active-duty military personnel between the ages of 18 and 35 who claimed both acute pain and restricted function due to back-related issues. Some of the patients received treatment via standard medical care, while the remainder received chiropractic adjustments together with regular medical care, as the authors wanted to determine which patients fared better.
The authors discovered that the group that received standard medical care in combination with chiropractic scored "significantly better" than the group that received medical care alone; 73% reported positive benefits in comparison to just 17% of the medical treatment only group who indicated the same amount of improvement. This was true regarding both pain and level of function at two and four weeks.
Accordingly, integrating these two forms of treatment can greatly benefit you--the patient--offering benefits when compared to medical care alone. However, while chiropractic and medical approaches can work alongside each other, chiropractic offers some distinct strengths over medical therapy.
Although it may seem as if each method plays a 50-50 role, there is one major advantage that chiropractic care has over medical treatment and that is in patient satisfaction. In fact, a piece of research from 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 treatment.
According to the experts, the main factors that patients liked over medical treatment 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 improve their health on their own, as well as outlining more thoroughly what to expect from chiropractic care.
Without a doubt, the strategies associated with chiropractic are very different than those offered with medical care, but a great deal of the distinction is the fact that chiropractic is a holistic approach to health and well-being. Rather than focusing on just relieving the symptoms, chiropractic involves finding the root cause of your pain, which often means greater improvement as you are tackling the problem at its source.
Additionally, 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 prescriptions and more permanent recovery.
You don't have to endure back pain or other health problems. Give our North County St. Louis, MO clinic a call today at (314) 867-8888. We'll do everything we can to help you get and stay 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.
