We see quite a few back pain patients in our North St. Louis, MO practice, and Dr. Holland has been able to help a lot of them get relief through various chiropractic techniques. However, dealing with back pain doesn't necessarily mean having to make a choice between chiropractic care and medical treatment, as many people utilize both types of care with great success.
In a study 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 limited function due to back pain. Some of the patients engaged in treatment via standard medical therapy, while the remainder received chiropractic care along with standard medical care, as researchers wanted to determine which patients fared better.
The authors found that the group that received standard medical care along 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 treatment only group who reported the same amount of improvement. This was true regarding both pain and level of function at two and four weeks.
Therefore, incorporating these two forms of treatment can greatly benefit you--the patient--offering benefits when compared to medical care alone. However, while chiropractic care and medical approaches can work alongside each other, chiropractic offers some unique strengths over medical treatment.
Although it might seem as if each approach plays a 50-50 role, there is one major benefit that chiropractic care 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 patients undergoing medical treatment.
According to the experts, the main aspects that patients liked over medical care were "self-care advice and explanation of treatment." This isn't unexpected, as chiropractors tend to spend much more time advising their patients as to how they can improve their health on their own, as well as discussing more carefully what to expect from chiropractic.
Certainly, the techniques associated with chiropractic are quite different than those offered with medical treatment, but a great deal of the difference is the fact that chiropractic is a holistic approach to health and well-being. In contrast to focusing on only relieving the symptoms, chiropractic care involves finding the primary 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 natural forms of treatment such as chiropractic. This means fewer negative side effects from prescriptions and longer-lasting recovery.
You don't have to deal with back pain or other health problems. Give our North St. Louis, MO clinic a call today at (314) 588-9100. We'll do everything we can 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.
