Emergency room physicians are trying
to figure out what is best to do for back pain
patients who choose the ER for help. It is a quandry
for them, particularly since almost 3 million such
patients with undifferentiated musculoskeletal low back pain choose the emergency room for help annually! (1) Unless there is
cauda equina syndrome demanding surgery or an infection, pain is the issue. How best can a Minster ER doc help?
How can an ER doctor provide higher value care? (2) Imaging and
medication. What can the Minster chiropractic back pain specialist provide?
Spinal manipulation and nutrients. Chiropractic has published about successfully managing back pain.
EMERGENCY ROOM: IMAGING
The ER performs lots of
imaging. One in 3 patients who go to the emergency room
for back pain (as opposed to 1 in 4 who seek care
from a primary care physician) gets imaging done:
simple imaging 26%, complex imaging 8.2%. (3) Today’s imaging recommendations
do not support this as they say to hold off
on imaging for 4-6 weeks of conservative care before imaging. (4) Maybe patients
are telling ER doctors that they have been using
such care already? Not likely since only 34% of
patients who visit an ER share with the emergency department
physician that they get healthcare options like chiropractors,
massage therapy, acupuncture and the like. (5) What about the pain?
EMERGENCY ROOM: MEDICATIONS
Pain relief, it
seems, is what they can offer. Researchers have looked at
a variety of pain medication combinations ER doctors have used
to figure out what is effective. What have
they discovered? Stronger pain medication options do not
offer much of a difference. Adding baclofen, metaxalone, or tizanidine to
ibuprofen does not seem to up
function or pain any more than placebo plus ibuprofen within a week
after an ED visit for acute low back pain. (6,7) Combining
ibuprofen and acetaminophen did not decrease pain
scores or the need for other analgesic pain meds compared with either ibuprofen
or acetaminophen alone in emergency room patients with acute
musculoskeletal injuries. (8) As a matter of fact, 48% of back pain patients
who visit an emergency room for their back pain continued to experience functional impairment 3 months later as well as
42% reported moderate or severe pain. 46% report using some type of analgesic pain reliever in the day prior. There are short and long-term problems for ER patients
with low back pain. (1) This may all be frustrating for emergency
department docs and their patients but not typically
for chiropractors and their chiropractic back pain patients. The
Minster chiropractic back pain specialist at Minster Chiropractic Center is
armed with the best of chiropractic care for
Minster back pain relief.
CHIROPRACTIC: MANIPULATION AND NUTRIENTS
Your Minster chiropractor understands.
Familiarity with chiropractic spinal manipulation via
The Cox® Technic System of Spinal Pain Management with the addition of
nutrition like chondroitin sulfate, glucosamine sulfate and curcurmin and
turmeric supports your Minster chiropractor’s confidence that back
pain relief and management for many otherwise frustrated Minster
back pain patients is promising.
Listen to this PODCAST
with Dr. Michael Schneider on The
Back Doctors Podcast with Dr. Michael Johnson who describes
the goal of the primary spine physician who would be the physician
to turn to for back pain issues.
CONTACT Minster Chiropractic Center
Schedule a Minster chiropractic visit
with Minster Chiropractic Center especially if an ER trip
hasn’t resulted in the pain relief you wanted.
Minster chiropractic care has figured out a well-documented
and researched way to manage back pain.
"This information and website content is not intended to diagnose, guarantee results, or recommend specific treatment or activity. It is designed to educate and inform only. Please consult your physician for a thorough examination leading to a diagnosis and well-planned treatment strategy. See more details on the
DISCLAIMER page. Content is reviewed by
Dr. James M. Cox I."