“What should I do about my back pain? It’s been going on for
so long.”
Sound familiar? Sure, it does! Arctic Chiropractic, Sitka knows
Sitka
back pain patients wrestle with this question. There
are many options – rest, exercise, meds, manipulation, chiropractic,
medicine, yoga, acupuncture, surgery, etc. – which makes it difficult
to choose. Recent research has looked at the cost,
safety, and risk of treatment escalation for patients who choose
spinal manipulation
initially versus those who choose opioid
analgesic treatment first for their chronic low back pain. The findings
are interesting.
COSTS OF OPIOID VS SMT FOR CHRONIC LOW BACK PAIN MEDICARE
PATIENTS
Chronic low back pain is a costly condition, but just how
costly is it? A review of Medicare health expenses
for long-term care of chronic low back pain assessed the costs
of opioid analgesic treatment versus those for spinal manipulation
therapy. There were 28,160 participants aged 65-84 years old. 77% began
with opioid therapy for their chronic low back pain. 23% started
with SMT. The long-term costs for opioid-therapy patients were 58%
lower, but long-term overall healthcare expenditures were 1.87
times greater for those same opioid patients. (1) Arctic Chiropractic, Sitka
follows a system of Sitka chiropractic treatment frequency guided
by the 50% Rule seeking 50% relief of pain within a
month with more visits in the beginning and less
as the pain reduces.
SAFETY OF OPIOIDS VS SMT FOR CHRONIC LOW BACK PAIN MEDICARE
PATIENTS
Cost is one thing. What about safety? A review
of patient files of Medicare beneficiaries aged 65 to 84 with chronic low back
pain for 5 years studied the long-term safety of two usual
approaches to chronic low back pain: opioid
analgesic therapy and spinal manipulation therapy. The researchers studied
a few types of patient records: patients who only received
spinal manipulation, only took opioids, started with
opioids then underwent spinal manipulation, and started
with spinal manipulation then supplemented with opioids. What did
they discover? The risk of adverse drug events was substantially
higher – 42 times higher - for patients who began with opioid
therapy initially for their chronic back pain than those who started with spinal manipulation. (2) Arctic Chiropractic, Sitka utilizes the
well research-documented, safe, gentle protocols of Cox® Technic.
ESCALATION OF CARE RISK FOR CHRONIC LOW BACK PAIN MEDICARE
PATIENTS
Research documents another key factor in
back pain treatment: how well does a treatment help the patient avoid more complex treatment? A third review of
Medicare patient data studied the risk of escalated treatments – hospital stays, ER visits,
imaging, back surgery, pain med interventions, and other such encounters
for possible complications of chronic low back pain – in long-term
chronic low back pain care patients who started with opioid analgesic
therapy or spinal manipulation therapy. Starting care with
spinal manipulation therapy was linked to lower
rates of escalation of care. The rate of escalated care encounters was 2.5 times
greatear for opioid care patients. (3) The use of
Cox® Technic at Arctic Chiropractic, Sitka lessens the need
for escalated care while cautiously monitoring each patient for
indications that such may be helpful or needed.
CONTACT Arctic Chiropractic, Sitka
Listen to this PODCAST
with Dr. Nike Taylor on The
Back Doctors Podcast with Dr. Michael Johnson as she discusses
treatment of chronic low back pain with the Cox® Technic Flexion
Distraction System of Spinal Pain Management.
Make your Sitka
chiropractic appointment today. Whether the answer
to the question of “what should I do about my back pain?” was opioid treatment
or other care, spinal manipulation at Arctic Chiropractic, Sitka may well be your next (or
your first if you are just beginning the search
for help) treatment that will get you the back pain
relief you want in a cost-effective, safe way.