“What should I do about my back pain? It’s been going on for
so long.”
Sound familiar? It does for many Minster chronic low
back pain sufferers. Minster Chiropractic Center knows
Minster
back pain patients struggle with this problem. There
are a variety of options – rest, exercise, meds, manipulation, chiropractic,
medicine, yoga, acupuncture, surgery, etc. – which makes it hard
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 results
are thought-provoking.
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? An analysis of Medicare health expenditures
for long-term care of chronic low back pain compared 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 expenses for opioid-therapy patients were 58%
lower, but long-term overall healthcare expenditures were 1.87
times greater for those same opioid patients. (1) Minster Chiropractic Center
follows a system of Minster chiropractic treatment frequency steered
by the 50% Rule looking for 50% relief of pain within a
month with more visits initially and less
as the pain decreases.
SAFETY OF OPIOIDS VS SMT FOR CHRONIC LOW BACK PAIN MEDICARE
PATIENTS
Cost is one thing. What about safety? An analysis
of patient files of Medicare beneficiaries aged 65 to 84 with chronic low back
pain for 5 years looked at the long-term safety of two common
treatment options for chronic low back pain: opioid
analgesic therapy and spinal manipulation therapy. The researchers considered
a variety of patient records: patients who only received
spinal manipulation, only received opioids, began with
opioids then had spinal manipulation, and began
with spinal manipulation then added 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 began with spinal manipulation. (2) Minster Chiropractic Center 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 looked at
escalation of care risk – hospital stays, emergency room visits,
imaging, back surgery, pain med interventions, and other such encounters
for potential 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. Commencing care with
spinal manipulation therapy was associated with reduced
rates of escalation of care. The rate of escalated care encounters was 2.5 times
greatear for opioid treatment patients. (3) The use of
Cox® Technic at Minster Chiropractic Center lessens the requirement
for escalated care while carefully monitoring each patient for
any signs that such may be helpful or needed.
CONTACT Minster Chiropractic Center
Listen to this PODCAST
with Dr. Nike Taylor on The
Back Doctors Podcast with Dr. Michael Johnson as she describes
treatment of chronic low back pain with the Cox® Technic Flexion
Distraction System of Spinal Pain Management.
Set up your Minster
chiropractic appointment now. Whether the answer
to the question of “what should I do about my back pain?” was opioid treatment
or other care, spinal manipulation at Minster Chiropractic Center may well be your next (or
your first if you are just starting the search
for help) treatment that will help you attain the back pain
relief you are seeking in a cost-effective, safe way.