Effective Back Pain Treatment

We see many people with back pain in our Hauppauge, Long Island office, and Dr. Cohen has been able to help many of them get relief with chiropractic. However, dealing with back problems doesn't necessarily mean having to decide between chiropractic care and medical treatment, as many individuals utilize both types of care with great outcomes.

Study Confirms Chiropractic and Medical Care Work Well with One Another

In a study published by the journal Spine investigators¹ looked at a group of active-duty military personnel between the ages of 18 and 35 who were suffering from both acute discomfort and restricted function due to back symptoms. Some of the patients received treatment via standard medical care, while the remainder received chiropractic adjustments together with regular medical care, as the authors wanted to see which group fared better.

Researchers discovered that the group that got standard medical care along with chiropractic care scored "significantly better" than the group that got medical care alone; 73% 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 the two- and four-week marks.

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

Where Chiropractic Care Is Successful

Although it may seem as if each method 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 from UCLA² that was printed 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 researchers, the main aspects that patients liked over medical care were "self-care advice and explanation of treatment." This isn't unexpected, as chiropractors typically spend much more time consulting with their patients as to how they can improve their health on their own, as well as explaining more thoroughly what to expect from chiropractic care.

Chiropractic Care Offers a Non-Invasive Approach

Certainly, the techniques associated with chiropractic are quite different than those offered with medical care, but a great deal of the distinction is the fact that chiropractic is a natural approach to health and well-being. Rather than focusing on just relieving the symptoms, chiropractic care involves tracking down the primary cause of your pain, which often translates to 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 side effects from drugs and lasting recovery.

You don't have to endure back pain or other health problems. Give our Hauppauge, Long Island clinic a call today at (631) 360-7999. We'll do our best 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.