Guidelines and recommendations for so many
things from how to properly change a light bulb
to when to do back surgery pervade
our daily lives. Guidelines are valued by people confronting
a new task or a new pain for the first
time. Guidelines for the care of back pain have been issued
through the years, many listing non-surgical
care including spinal manipulation as first line treatment. Just how well are
those guidelines followed by relevant healthcare practitioners,
by back pain patients? Dr. Le's Chiropractic & Wellness, L.L.C. found these recent reports interesting and thought
our Auburn chiropractic patients would, too. We can all
use them to design and go along with a guideline-based
treatment plan.
BACK PAIN TREATMENT GUIDELINES
Your Auburn chiropractor keeps
abreast of the current guidelines to best help you, our Auburn
back pain patient. Back in 2009, the American College of Physicians added spinal manipulation to its guidelines’
recommendations of suitable spinal pain care choices.
(1) Dr. Le's Chiropractic & Wellness, L.L.C. utilizes the well-documented Cox® Technic
System of Spinal Pain Management which has a published algorithm of
decision-making for patients with pain below the knee
and patients who experience pain that does not
go below the knee with a goal of 50% improvement in 30 days or
so of care. These guidelines were released in 1996
and have been tested in clinic-based data collections through
the years. (2) Such guidelines with research support and
proper clinical application soothe
our Auburn chiropractic patients!
ARE GUIDELINES BEING FOLLOWED?
We hope so! Nearly 64% of chiropractors say they use (Cox®)
flexion distraction with their spine pain patients and have the algorithm/guideline
available to them. Dr. Le's Chiropractic & Wellness, L.L.C. is one of those
chiropractors. Beyond chiropractic, broad guidelines for back
pain care are also accessible. Are they followed? A recent review of chiropractic and OT/PT use among 146,087 adults
with low back pain in the past 3 months found that
chiropractic care or OT/PT care for low back pain increased after
clinical guidelines recommending their care were announced in
2016. Between 2002 and 2018, a little less than a third of those
adults with low back pain reported getting chiropractic and/or PT/OT with a rise to a third after the 2016 clinical guidelines were published.
(3) This does show that guidelines assist
with treatment direction but are not always followed. In Denmark
where guidelines for low back pain care are outlined
for primary care before referral found that 33% of
patients had not undergone an adequate course of treatment
in primary care before being referred. The patients were on
average 53 years old with nearly 50% of them reporting
that they’d had pain for more than a
year, and 75% reporting
pain below the knee. (4) Struggles in the healthcare system to follow guidelines are seemingly global.
CHIROPRACTIC’S ROLE
A group of chiropractic leaders compiled
their thoughts on the role of the chiropractor in his/her own
practice, with his/her own patients, within the healthcare community, and
within society for healthcare. Very interesting! Independently,
chiropractors described themselves as experienced
and well-educated spine and musculoskeletal care experts who delivered
evidence-based care based on the latest research,
clinical expertise, and patient values. They provided
patient-centered care that extends to cooperating with other
healthcare providers with the best interest of the patient in mind. (5) Using guidelines, chiropractors are
confident that they can assist their back pain patients with
those patient’s best interests in mind.
CONTACT Dr. Le's Chiropractic & Wellness, L.L.C.
Listen to this PODCAST
with Dr. Ted Siciliano on The Back Doctors Podcast with
Dr. Michael Johnson as he describes how he used The Cox® Technic System of Spinal Pain Management to help
a patient dealing with back pain and foot drop.
Make your Auburn chiropractic
appointment now. Facing a serious episode of back
pain is certainly not equivalent to changing a light bulb for
the first time, but it is comforting to know that there are available to navigate the way through the task!