The headline above comes from New Zealand in a September 8, 2011 article posted on the Voxy.co.nz news website. The article reports on a survey which was the largest of its kind having 45,601 people surveyed about their satisfaction with chiropractic care.
The study was conducted in the United States by the US Consumer Reports National Research Center and looked at people using what the study called “alternative healthcare”, which included chiropractic. The results showed that, unlike many other forms of alternative care, chiropractic patients were, for the most part, very satisfied with their care.
In the article, Dr. Hayden Thomas, a chiropractor and spokesperson for the New Zealand Chiropractors’ Association, said the study reported, “Hands-on care such as chiropractic along with the mind-body practice of yoga topped the lists of helpful alternatives for discomfort from conditions such as back pain, neck pain, and osteoarthritis.”
The article noted that the study showed that chiropractic did better than all other forms of care in the study when it came to back pain or neck pain. The study noted that chiropractic and several other forms of alternative care were shown to be more effective than over the counter medications.
Interestingly, the article reported from the study that, “Eighty-one percent of those who sought chiropractic care said their doctors knew about it and 21 percent who used chiropractic said their doctors had recommended it.” These numbers are a vast increase from previous surveys that showed that many people did not discuss their chiropractic care with their medical physician, and very few referrals were being made by MDs to chiropractors.
Dr. Thomas concluded the article by stating, “There appear to be a number of reasons people look at alternative therapies. They may have gone through a major life event or illness that has caused them to look at their health in a different way, some are frustrated with conventional approaches or the side effects of drugs, and others prefer dietary supplements or herbal remedies to medicines because they’re natural, even though it’s not necessarily the case that they are safer or have less side effects than conventional medications.”
