Guidelines and recommendations for so many
things from how to correctly replace a light bulb
to when to do back surgery fill
our daily lives. Guidelines are appreciated by people facing
a new task or a new pain for the first
time. Guidelines for the care of back pain have been published
for years, many recommending non-surgical
care including spinal manipulation as first line treatment. Just how well are
those guidelines followed by relevant healthcare practitioners,
by back pain sufferers? Cox Chiropractic Medicine Inc found these recent reports interesting and thought
our Fort Wayne chiropractic patients would, too. We can all
use them to create and follow a guideline-based
treatment plan.
BACK PAIN TREATMENT GUIDELINES
Your Fort Wayne chiropractor keeps
abreast of the current guidelines to best help you, our Fort Wayne
back pain patient. Back in 2009, the American College of Physicians listed spinal
manipulation in its guidelines’
recommendations of suitable spinal pain care options.
(1) Cox Chiropractic Medicine Inc uses the well-documented Cox® Technic
System of Spinal Pain Management which has a published algorithm of
decision-making for patients who have pain below the knee
and patients who experience pain that does not
go below the knee with a goal of 50% improvement in a month of care. These guidelines were released in 1996
and have been tested in clinic-based data collections in the years since. (2) Such guidelines with research support and
proper clinical application soothe
our Fort Wayne 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. Cox Chiropractic Medicine Inc 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 documented 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 bit less than a third of those
adults with low back pain said that they were going
through chiropractic and/or PT/OT with a rise to a third after the 2016 clinical guidelines were released.
(3) This does demonstrate 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 being referred found that 33% of
patients had not gone through an adequate course of treatment
in primary care before being referred. The patients were on
average 53 years old with almost 50% of them reporting
that they had pain for more than a
year, and 75% saying that they experienced
pain below the knee. (4) Struggles in the healthcare system to follow guidelines are seemingly global.
CHIROPRACTIC’S ROLE
A group of chiropractic leaders assembled
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 reported themselves as experienced
and well-educated spine and musculoskeletal care experts who offered
evidence-based care based on the latest research,
clinical expertise, and patient values. They delivered
patient-centered care that spreads to cooperating with other
healthcare providers in the
best interests of the patient. (5) Using guidelines, chiropractors are
sure that they can help their back pain patients with
those patient’s best interests in mind.
CONTACT Cox Chiropractic Medicine Inc
Listen to this PODCAST
with Dr. Ted Siciliano on The Back Doctors Podcast with
Dr. Michael Johnson as he illustrates how he used The Cox® Technic System of Spinal Pain Management to relieve
a patient dealing with back pain and foot drop.
Make your Fort Wayne chiropractic
appointment soon. Facing a serious bout of back
pain is certainly not comparable to changing a light bulb for
the first time, but it is comforting to know that there are published
guidelines to navigate the way through the task!