Chiropractic Therapy & Effective Back Pain Treatment

Largo Medical Care & Chiropractic: An Effective Combination

We see quite a few back pain patients in our Largo practice, and Largo Injury Pain Relief Center has been able to help many of them obtain relief through various chiropractic techniques. However, 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 results.

Study Confirms Chiropractic and Medical Care Work Well with Each Other

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 soreness and restricted function due to back symptoms. Some of the test subjects received treatment via standard medical therapy, while the rest were given chiropractic treatment together with standard medical care, as researchers wanted to see which group fared better.

Researchers discovered that the group that got standard medical care along with chiropractic scored "significantly better" than the group that received medical care alone; 73 percent reported positive benefits compared 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.

Accordingly, combining 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 strengths over medical therapy.

Where Chiropractic Care Pulls Ahead

Although it may 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 study done 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 care.

According to the researchers, the main factors that patients liked over medical treatment were "self-care advice and explanation of treatment." This isn't surprising, 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.

Chiropractic Offers a Holistic Approach to Wellness

Without a doubt, the methods associated with chiropractic are quite different than those available with medical therapy, but a large amount of the distinction is the fact that chiropractic is a holistic approach to health and wellness. In contrast to focusing on simply relieving the symptoms, chiropractic involves finding the primary cause of your pain, which often results in greater improvement as you are tackling the problem at its source.

Furthermore, while medication is sometimes helpful for treating certain conditions, many health issues respond well to a natural approach like chiropractic. This means fewer negative responses to medications and lasting recovery.

You don't have to deal with back pain or other health problems. Give our Largo office a call today at (727) 585-8888. We'll do everything we can to help you get and continue to be 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.