We see a number of patients with back pain in our Shoreview, MN office, and Dr. Jane Steffen Bye has helped many of them get relief with chiropractic. 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 individuals utilize both types of care with great outcomes.
In a report published by the 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 restricted function due to back symptoms. Some of the patients engaged in treatment via standard medical care, while the remainder received chiropractic care as well as regular medical care, as researchers wanted to see which patients fared better.
Researchers discovered that the group that got 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 percent 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.
Accordingly, integrating these two forms of care can greatly benefit you--the patient--offering advantages when compared to medical care alone. However, while chiropractic and medicine can work together, chiropractic offers some distinct strengths over medical therapy.
Although it might seem as if each approach plays a 50/50 role, there is one major 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 patients undergoing medical treatment.
According to the researchers, the main factors that patients preferred over medical treatment were "self-care advice and explanation of treatment." This isn't unexpected, as chiropractors commonly spend much more time advising their patients as to how they can improve their health on their own, as well as explaining more thoroughly what to expect from chiropractic.
Without a doubt, the techniques associated with chiropractic are quite different than those provided with medical therapy, but a great deal of the difference is the fact that chiropractic is a natural approach to health and well-being. Rather than focusing on only relieving the symptoms, chiropractic care involves searching for 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 treating certain conditions, many health issues respond well to a natural approach such as chiropractic care. This means fewer negative responses to drugs and lasting results.
You don't have to struggle with back pain or other health issues. Give our Shoreview, MN clinic a call today at (651) 483-4040. We'll do everything we can to help you get and continue to be free from back pain.
References
Dr. Jane Steffen Bye, DC, FICPA treats a variety of conditions due to automobile accidents, work related incidents, and sports injuries. She also has a special interest in infants, children, and the care of pregnant women with prenatal chiropractic. Dr. Jane Steffen Bye, DC, FICPA has continued postgraduate studies in these areas.
