Chiropractic Care & Effective Back Pain Treatment

Lenexa Medical Care & Chiropractic: An Effective Combination

We see quite a few people with back pain in our Lenexa practice, and Dr. Isom has been able to help many of them find relief with chiropractic care. However, recovering from back pain doesn't necessarily mean having to decide between chiropractic care and medical therapy, as many individuals use both types of care with great outcomes.

Study Confirms Chiropractic and Medical Care Work Well Together

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 were suffering from both acute soreness and limited function due to back pain. Some of the study participants received treatment via standard medical therapy, while the rest were given chiropractic adjustments together with regular medical care, as the authors wanted to see which group fared better.

Researchers found that the group that received standard medical care in combination with chiropractic care scored "significantly better" than the group that got medical care alone; 73 percent reported positive benefits compared to just 17 percent of the medical treatment only group who reported 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 and medicine can work alongside each other, chiropractic offers some unique advantages over medical treatment.

Where Chiropractic Care Pulls Ahead

Although it might seem as if each approach plays a 50-50 role, there is one significant advantage that chiropractic has over medical treatment 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 treatment.

According to the researchers, the main factors that patients liked over medical treatment 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 care.

Chiropractic Care Offers a Natural Approach to Wellness

Without a doubt, the techniques associated with chiropractic are very different than those available with medical therapy, but a large amount of the difference is the fact that chiropractic is a holistic approach to health and well-being. Instead of focusing on only relieving the symptoms, chiropractic involves finding the primary cause of your pain, which often results in greater improvement as you are addressing the problem at its source.

In addition, while medication is sometimes helpful for managing certain conditions, many health issues respond well to a natural approach such as chiropractic care. This means fewer negative responses to medications and lasting results.

You don't have to deal with back pain or other health issues. Give our Lenexa office a call today at (913) 735-9565. We'll do our best to help you get and stay 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.