We see many back pain patients in our State College, PA office, and Drs. Matt & Annie Reyes has been able to help many of them find relief with chiropractic. At the same time, dealing with back problems 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.
In a report published by the academic journal Spine researchers1 looked at a group of active-duty military personnel between the ages of 18 and 35 who claimed both acute soreness and limited function due to back-related issues. Some of the study participants received treatment via standard medical therapy, while the remainder received chiropractic adjustments along with regular medical care, as the authors wanted to determine which group fared better.
The authors found that the group that received standard medical care combined with chiropractic care scored "significantly better" than the group that got medical care alone; 73% reported positive benefits in comparison to just 17 percent of the medical care only group who indicated the same amount of improvement. This was true regarding both pain and level of function at two and four weeks.
Accordingly, incorporating these two forms of care can greatly benefit you--the patient--offering advantages when compared to medical care alone. However, while chiropractic care and medical approaches can work alongside each other, chiropractic offers some distinct strengths over medical treatment.
Although it may seem as if each method plays a 50/50 role, there is one major benefit that chiropractic care has over medical care and that is in patient satisfaction. In fact, a study from 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 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 better their health on their own, as well as discussing more thoroughly what to expect from chiropractic care.
Certainly, the strategies associated with chiropractic are very different than those offered with medical care, but a large amount of the distinction is the fact that chiropractic is a natural approach to health and wellness. Instead of focusing on just relieving the symptoms, chiropractic involves searching for the root cause of your pain, which often means greater improvement as you are tackling the problem at its source.
In addition, while medication is sometimes helpful for managing certain conditions, many health issues respond well to a natural approach like chiropractic. This means fewer negative responses to prescriptions and more permanent recovery.
You don't have to endure back pain or other health problems. Give our State College, PA clinic a call today at (814) 308-9352. We'll do our best to help you get and stay free from back pain.
References
Dr. Matt Reyes was born and raised in Apalachin, a small town in Upstate New York. He has a Bachelor of Science degree in Kinesiology with a concentration in Fitness Development from the State University at New York College at Cortland. He then fulfilled his ambition to become a Doctor of Chiropractic when he graduated from New York Chiropractic College in 2013.
