Chiropractic and Medical Care in Brunswick GA: An Effective Combination

We see quite a few back pain patients in our Brunswick GA Chiropractic office, and Dr. Halverson has helped a lot of them find relief with chiropractic care. At the same time, dealing with back problems doesn't necessarily mean having to decide between chiropractic care and medical care, as many individuals use both types of care with great results.

Study Confirms Chiropractic and Medical Care Work Well with One Another

In a report published by the academic journal Spine experts1 looked at a group of active-duty military personnel between the ages of 18 and 35 who claimed both acute discomfort and restricted function due to back pain. Some of the test subjects received treatment via standard medical therapy, while the rest received chiropractic adjustments as well as standard medical care, as the authors wanted to see which patients fared better.

The authors found that the group that received standard medical care along with chiropractic scored "significantly better" than the group that received medical care alone; 73% reported positive benefits in comparison to just 17 percent 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.

Thus, integrating these two forms of care can greatly benefit you--the patient--offering benefits when compared to medical care alone. However, while chiropractic care and medicine can work alongside each other, chiropractic offers some distinct strengths over medical therapy.

Where Chiropractic Pulls Ahead

Although it may seem as if each method plays a 50/50 role, there is one significant 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 treatment.

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

Chiropractic Care in Brunswick GA Is a Natural Approach to Wellness

Certainly, the strategies associated with chiropractic are very different than those offered with medical therapy, but a large amount of the difference is the fact that chiropractic is a natural approach to health and wellness. Instead of focusing on just relieving the symptoms, chiropractic care means tracking down the primary cause of your pain, which often results in greater improvement as you are addressing the problem at its source.

Furthermore, while medication is sometimes helpful for managing certain conditions, many health issues respond well to natural forms of treatment like chiropractic care. This means fewer negative responses to drugs and longer-lasting recovery.

You don't have to endure back pain or other health issues. Give our Brunswick, GA clinic a call today at (912) 262-9735. We'll work to help you get and stay free from back pain.

References

• 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.
• 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.