We see a number of patients with back pain in our Aloha, Beaverton practice, and Oregon Medical Centers has been able to provide a lot of them get relief through various chiropractic techniques. At the same time, recovering from back pain doesn't necessarily mean having to decide between chiropractic care and medical treatment, as many people utilize both types of care with great results.
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 claimed both acute discomfort and limited function due to back pain. Some of the test subjects received treatment via standard medical care, while the rest received chiropractic adjustments as well as regular medical care, as researchers wanted to see which patients fared better.
The authors determined that the patients who received standard medical care combined with chiropractic scored "significantly better" than the group that received medical care alone; 73% reported positive benefits in comparison to just 17% of the medical care 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, incorporating these two forms of care can greatly benefit you--the patient--offering benefits when compared to medical care alone. However, while chiropractic and medicine can work alongside each other, chiropractic offers some distinct advantages over medical treatment.
Although it might seem as if each approach plays a 50-50 role, there is one significant advantage that chiropractic care has over medical care and that is in patient satisfaction. In fact, a piece of research conducted at UCLA2 that was published in the American Journal of Public Health reports that, on average, chiropractic patients are generally more satisfied with their recovery than people undergoing medical treatment.
According to the experts, the main factors that patients preferred over medical treatment were "self-care advice and explanation of treatment." This isn't surprising, as chiropractors tend to spend much more time consulting with their patients as to how they can better their health on their own, as well as outlining more carefully what to expect from chiropractic.
Certainly, the techniques associated with chiropractic are quite different than those available with medical therapy, but a great deal of the difference is the fact that chiropractic is a holistic approach to health and wellness. In contrast to focusing on just relieving the symptoms, chiropractic involves finding the root cause of your pain, which often means greater improvement as you are tackling the problem at its source.
Additionally, while medication is sometimes helpful for managing certain conditions, many health issues respond well to a natural approach like chiropractic care. This means fewer negative side effects from drugs and longer-lasting recovery.
You don't have to endure back pain or other health issues. Give our Aloha, Beaverton clinic a call today at (503) 642-2845. We'll work to help you get and continue to be free from back pain.
References
Dr. Bhasin grew up in Southern California and did her undergraduate work in pre-med at California State University Northridge, as well as Humboldt State University in California. Dr. Bhasin attended the University of Western States in Portland Oregon where she earned her Doctor of Chiropractic Degree. Dr. Bhasin has passed her National boards and her State Boards. Dr. Bhasin loves helping people and finds great joy helping injured people get out of pain and get their life back again. She has helped thousands of patients.
