Effective Back Pain Treatment

We see many patients with back pain in our Yakima, WA office, and Dr. Bill Kroner has been able to provide many of them get relief through various chiropractic techniques. At the same time, dealing with back pain doesn't necessarily mean having to decide between chiropractic care and medical treatment, as many individuals utilize both types of care with great success.

Research Confirms Chiropractic and Medical Treatment Work Well with One Another

In a report published by the medical journal Spine experts¹ looked at a group of active-duty military personnel between the ages of 18 and 35 who reported both acute soreness and restricted function due to back symptoms. Some of the study participants received treatment via standard medical therapy, while the remainder received chiropractic care in addition to regular medical care, as the authors wanted to determine which group fared better.

Researchers observed that the group that got 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 indicated the same amount of improvement. This was true regarding both pain and level of function at the two- and four-week marks.

Accordingly, incorporating these two forms of treatment can greatly benefit you--the patient--offering advantages when compared to medical care alone. However, while chiropractic care and medical approaches can work together, chiropractic offers some unique advantages over medical treatment.

Where Chiropractic Wins

Although it might seem as if each approach plays a 50/50 role, there is one major advantage that chiropractic care has over medical treatment 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 found that, on average, chiropractic patients are generally more satisfied with their recovery than people undergoing medical care.

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

Chiropractic Offers a Holistic Approach

Without a doubt, the strategies associated with chiropractic are quite different than those provided with medical treatment, but a large amount of the distinction is the fact that chiropractic is a natural approach to health and well-being. Instead of focusing on just relieving the symptoms, chiropractic involves searching for the root 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 managing certain conditions, many health issues respond well to natural forms of treatment such as chiropractic care. This means fewer negative responses to drugs and more permanent results.

You don't have to deal with back pain or other health issues. Give our Yakima, WA office a call today at (509) 972-4000. 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.