Thursday, November 20, 2008

Chiropractic treatment is becoming mainstream medicine

There is a growing trend in healthcare today. Patients are increasingly more unsatisfied with the treatment they receive from the medical physician. In these situations, it is often because the persons problem is not one in which medicine is the best treatment choice.

The numbers of people seeking out alternatives to medical treatment is on a steady rise. You can see medical facilities offering alternatives and "wholistic" treatment in outpatient hospital related settings. These facilities are oftened staffed by providers that are not as skilled or experienced as those in private practice. Here'sa brief excerpt from an article I came across the other day.

"A study published in the Journal of American Medical Association way back in 1998 showed that visits to alterative practitioners increased from 34% in 1990 to 42% in 1997, in such disciplines as herbal medicine, massage, megavitamins, self-help groups, folk remedies, energy healing, and homeopathy. The probability of users visiting an alternative medicine practitioner increased from 36.3% to 46.3%, which totaled an estimated cost of over $21 billion, with at least $12 billion out-of-pocket, that is, paid by the patients themselves and not insurance companies. This increase was attributed to more people seeking complementary care, and not to more visits per patient.

More than one-third of hospitals now offer one or more complementary therapies, according to a survey by the American Hospital Association completed last September. The hospitals with these services tend to be located in urban areas, with the southern Atlantic states offered the most CAM services. The types of services offered vary from hospital to hospital, but include acupuncture, chiropractic, homeopathy, nutrition, herbal medicine, and massage therapy. (Massage is one of the most requested services.) Over 80% of patients requested complementary services, even though they are not covered by insurance."

Of all the specialties that fall under CAM Chiropractic care is by far the one most utilized, most researched and most effective.

Pasted from <http://www.healthnews.com/blogs/melanie-grimes/natural-health/alternative-medicine/is-alternative-medicine-new-mainstream-2100.html>

For more info about the statistics concerning CAM usage go to this website, www.b2hc.com, and send us an email.