A combination of conventional care and alternative medicine might be the ticket to taming low back pain. In a pilot study recently published in the Journal of Alternative and Complementary Medicine, an integrative approach to back pain treatment (including alternative therapies like massage, acupuncture, chiropractic care, mind-body techniques and nutritional counseling along with conventional care) appeared more effective in easing back pain than conventional care alone.
The study involved 20 patients with low back pain, each of whom was treated with integrative care or conventional care (including physical therapy, medication and bed rest) for 12 weeks. In addition to showing greater decreases in pain, the integrative-care group had significantly lower levels of worry and less difficulty carrying out their daily routine compared to members of the standard-care group.
Photo courtesy Dideo
