For a long time, chiropractic care was considered risky and ineffective, making traditional medicine the main treatment for back pain. However, more and more people are choosing to undergo chiropractic adjustments because of their great benefits. Check out these three benefits chiropractic care has over traditional medicine to help you decide if an adjustment is the right treatment for your pain.

Little To No Side Effects

Many traditional doctors may first try other treatments for your back pain, such as suggesting you lose weight or try exercise. If the pain was caused by an injury, they may even suggest seeing a physical therapist. However, in most cases, if you visit your general doctor for back pain, even if they suggest other treatments, you walk away with a prescription for pain medication or a suggestion to take over-the-counter pain medications. However, all medications, even over-the-counter ones have negative side effects, including liver damage, stomach upset, constipation, nausea, drowsiness and diarrhea.

Chiropractic care does not rely on medications to stop pain. A chiropractor may suggest taking an over-the-counter pain reliever for temporary use, but they do not prescribe pain medications. Therefore, the only side effects you get from seeing a chiropractor is from the actual treatment. In most cases, these side effects include aching or soreness in the areas adjusted, but it only lasts for about 24 hours. Of course, with any treatment, there are also rare, more serious side effects that have been reported.

Correcting The Problem, Not Masking it

So, with traditional medicine, back pain is commonly treated with pain medication. The human body, however, doesn't just feel pain to torture you. Pain is your body's way of telling you something is wrong. Taking pain pill after pain pill doesn't correct whatever is causing your pain. Instead, it allows you to ignore the problem by masking it and relieving the pain. In most cases, this only causes the underlying cause to worsen. You wouldn't walk around on a broken foot and not seek medical attention, even if it didn't hurt when you took pain medication. So why is your back pain any different?

Chiropractic uses diagnostic tools, such as X-rays, MRIs and physical examinations to determine the cause of your pain. Once the chiropractor understands what is causing the pain, a treatment plan can be crafted, which involves adjustments and modalities. Modalities, such as massage and electrical stimulation, are used to relax your body before or after an adjustment. Adjustments are used to correct structural alignment and improve function, which allows your body to heal naturally. Not every injury, however, may benefit from chiropractic care, so if you see no change in your pain after several weeks of treatments, another option may be better.

Few Risks Or Complications

Although it is often saved for the last resort, surgery for back pain is quite common in traditional medicine. Any surgery carries with it a lot of risks and complications. During the surgery, you may develop complications from the anesthesia and bleeding. However, the risks continue after the surgery and include partially collapsed lung, pain, blood clot and infection.  

Chiropractic care is one of the safest treatments available for back pain. On top of that, surgery is uncommon with chiropractic care because it is not usually needed. The adjustments tend to work well enough to keep pain away or reduce it enough so patients don't feel the need to undergo surgery. However, keep in mind that, despite its risks, surgery may fix the problem once and for all. Many chiropractic patients must continue to get maintenance care to control their back pain or risk it returning in full force.  

Like any treatment, chiropractic care isn't perfect. However, because it has little to no side effects or risks, it doesn't hurt to give it a try at least once. For more information on how chiropractic care can help you, contact a chiropractic doctor in your area today or visit a website like http://cochiropractor.com.