The Difference Between Medical & Chiropractic Doctor’s
Houston Chiropractor Comments: At a recent deposition I was asked what are the differences between medical and chiropractic doctors for the treatment of neck and back pain. While the simple answer would be that medical doctors treat the pain with drugs or surgery and chiropractic doctors treat the back and neck pain with chiropractic treatment and therapy…that is not completely accurate. The answer that I gave was that medical doctors usually treat the symptoms and doctors of chiropractic treat the cause of the problem.
Typically when a patient goes to a medical doctor for back or neck pain they will be given medication for inflammation, muscle spasms and pain reduction. If the pain does not improve they will be given injections, told to go to physical therapy or advised to have surgery.
Since chiropractors don’t prescribe drugs we typically try and figure out what is causing the muscle spasm, inflammation or the pain. Once we figure out the cause of the back or neck pain we can alleviate the pain. If a joint is out of alignment, we can realign it. If there is inflammation, we can do therapy to reduce it. If the muscles have become weak or overused, we can show the correct stretches or exercises to fix it.
If you look at back or neck pain like a room full of smoke, you can do one of two things. You can use a fan to remove the smoke from the room (medicine) or you can put out the fire in the trash can before removing the smoke (chiropractic).
Dr. Ward Beecher practices at Beecher Chiropractic Clinic at 1001 Pineloch, Ste 700 Houston, TX 77062. You can schedule an appointment at BeecherChiropractic.com or by calling (281) 286-1300. If you have any questions regarding this blog, please comment below!
