Chiropractic Therapy Effective for Back Pain

We see several patients with back pain in our Yakima office, and Dr. Covington has been able to help a lot of them get relief with chiropractic. However, recovering from back pain doesn't necessarily mean having to decide between chiropractic care and medical treatment, as many individuals use both types of care with great results.

Research Confirms Chiropractic and Medical Treatment Work Well Together

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 reported both acute pain and restricted function due to back-related issues. Some of the test subjects engaged in treatment via standard medical therapy, while the rest were given chiropractic care along with regular medical care, as researchers wanted to determine which group fared better.

The authors observed that the group that received standard medical care combined with chiropractic care scored "significantly better" than the group that got medical care alone; 73% reported positive benefits in comparison to just 17 percent 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, incorporating these two forms of treatment can greatly benefit you, the patient, offering advantages when compared to medical care alone. However, while chiropractic care and medical approaches can work alongside each other, chiropractic offers some distinct strengths over medical therapy.

Where Chiropractic Care Wins

Although it might seem as if each method plays a 50-50 role, there is one significant advantage that chiropractic has over medical care and that is in patient satisfaction. In fact, a study 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 care were "self-care advice and explanation of treatment." This isn't unexpected, as chiropractors frequently spend much more time consulting with their patients as to how they can improve their health on their own, as well as explaining more carefully what to expect from chiropractic care.

Chiropractic Care Offers a Natural Approach to Wellness

Without a doubt, the strategies associated with chiropractic are quite different than those offered with medical care, but a great deal of the distinction is the fact that chiropractic is a natural approach to health and wellness. In contrast to focusing on just relieving the symptoms, chiropractic care involves searching for the root cause of your pain, which often results in greater improvement as you are tackling the problem at its source.

Furthermore, while medication is sometimes helpful for treating certain conditions, many health issues respond well to a natural approach like chiropractic. This means fewer negative responses to medications and more permanent results.

You don't have to deal with back pain or other health issues. Give our Yakima clinic a call today at (509) 895-7535. We'll do everything we can to help you get and remain 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.