Effective Back Pain Treatment

We see a number of patients with back pain in our Jacksonville and Fleming Island practice, and Dr. Fritz has been able to help many of them get relief with chiropractic. At the same time, recovering from back pain doesn't necessarily mean having to make a choice between chiropractic care and medical therapy, as many individuals utilize both types of care with great success.

Study Confirms Chiropractic and Medical Care Work Well with One Another

In a report published by the journal Spine researchers¹ looked at a group of active-duty military personnel between the ages of 18 and 35 who were suffering from both acute discomfort and limited function due to back symptoms. Some of the study participants engaged in treatment via standard medical care, while the remainder were given chiropractic care along with standard medical care, as the authors wanted to see which group fared better.

Researchers observed that the group that got standard medical care along with chiropractic scored "significantly better" than the group that got medical care alone; 73% reported positive benefits in comparison to just 17% of the medical treatment only group who indicated the same amount of improvement. This was true regarding both pain and level of function at the two- and four-week marks.

Accordingly, combining 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.

Where Chiropractic Care Is Successful

Although it might seem as if each method plays a 50-50 role, there is one major benefit that chiropractic has over medical care and that is in patient satisfaction. In fact, one bit of research conducted 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 people undergoing medical care.

According to the researchers, the main aspects that patients favored over medical treatment were "self-care advice and explanation of treatment." This isn't unexpected, as chiropractors typically spend much more time advising their patients as to how they can improve their health on their own, as well as outlining more thoroughly what to expect from chiropractic.

Chiropractic Care Is a Natural Approach to Wellness

Without a doubt, the methods associated with chiropractic are very different than those offered with medical care, but a large amount of the difference is the fact that chiropractic is a holistic approach to health and wellness. In contrast to focusing on only relieving the symptoms, chiropractic involves searching for the primary cause of your pain, which often translates to greater improvement as you are addressing the problem at its source.

Additionally, 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 responses to drugs and lasting results.

You don't have to endure back pain or other health problems. Give our Jacksonville and Fleming Island clinic a call today at (904) 425-9060. We'll do our best to help you get and remain 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.