We see quite a few patients with back pain in our Nashville office, and Sweeney Chiropractic has been able to help many of them get relief with chiropractic care. At the same time, recovering from back problems 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 academic journal Spine experts1 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-related issues. Some of the patients engaged in treatment via standard medical care, while the remainder received chiropractic adjustments in addition to standard medical care, as the authors wanted to determine which patients fared better.
Researchers discovered that the group that received standard medical care in combination with chiropractic care scored "significantly better" than the patients who got medical care alone; 73% reported positive benefits in comparison 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.
Thus, integrating these two forms of care 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 distinct strengths over medical treatment.
Although it might seem as if each method plays a 50/50 role, there is one significant benefit that chiropractic has over medical treatment and that is in patient satisfaction. In fact, a piece of research done at 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 care.
According to the experts, the main aspects that patients preferred over medical care were "self-care advice and explanation of treatment." This isn't surprising, as chiropractors typically 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.
Without a doubt, the techniques associated with chiropractic are quite different than those offered with medical treatment, but a great deal of the distinction is the fact that chiropractic is a holistic approach to health and wellness. Rather than focusing on simply relieving the symptoms, chiropractic care means tracking down the primary cause of your pain, which often results in greater improvement as you are addressing the problem at its source.
Furthermore, while medication is sometimes helpful for treating certain conditions, many health issues respond well to a natural approach such as chiropractic. This means fewer negative responses to prescriptions and longer-lasting recovery.
You don't have to suffer from back pain or other health issues. Give our Nashville office a call today at (615) 331-7040. We'll do our best to help you get and continue to be free from back pain.
References
Dr. Jim Sweeney & Dr. Jon Sweeney, your Nashville Chiropractors and Palmer College of Chiropractic West graduates, provide quality chiropractic care to patients in Nashville, TN. If you suffer from back pain, neck pain, headache, sciatica or have been in an auto collision, Sweeney Chiropractic can get you back on the road to health.
