We see several patients with back pain in our North County St. Louis, MO practice, and Dr. Holland has been able to help many of them obtain relief with chiropractic care. However, recovering from back pain doesn't necessarily mean having to make a choice between chiropractic care and medical care, as many people utilize both types of care with great success.
In a report published by the 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 pain and limited function due to back-related issues. Some of the test subjects received treatment via standard medical care, while the rest received chiropractic treatment in addition to regular medical care, as researchers wanted to determine which group fared better.
Researchers observed that the patients who got standard medical care combined with chiropractic care scored "significantly better" than the group that got medical care alone; 73 percent reported positive benefits compared to just 17% of the medical care only group who indicated the same amount of improvement. This was true regarding both pain and level of function at the two-and four-week marks.
Thus, integrating these two forms of treatment can greatly benefit you, the patient, offering advantages when compared to medical care alone. However, while chiropractic and medical approaches can work alongside each other, chiropractic offers some distinct strengths over medical treatment.
Although it may seem as if each method plays a 50/50 role, there is one significant benefit that chiropractic care 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 experts, the main factors that patients preferred over medical care were "self-care advice and explanation of treatment." This isn't unexpected, as chiropractors commonly 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.
Certainly, the techniques associated with chiropractic are quite different than those available with medical therapy, but a large amount of the difference is the fact that chiropractic is a natural approach to health and wellness. In contrast to focusing on simply relieving the symptoms, chiropractic care means finding the primary cause of your pain, which often means 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 a natural approach like chiropractic. This means fewer negative side effects from drugs and lasting results.
You don't have to suffer from back pain or other health problems. Give our North County St. Louis, MO office a call today at (314) 867-8888. We'll do everything we can to help you get and continue to be 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.
