Prescriptions of Opioids Pre and Post Back Surgery for Elgin Back Pain, Chiropractic Care May Reduce Rxs and Pain
Opioid use for pain has been a customary treatment. Its use is a little too common as medicine today is even trying to slow its prescription. For back surgery patients, it’s been quite common, both before and/or after back surgery. Though today the use of opioids is being less supported, many back pain sufferers still receive opioid prescriptions from their healthcare providers. Connected Chiropractic would love to be the first healthcare provider Elgin back pain and neck pain patients see and truly embrace the opportunity to take care of the post-surgical continued pain patients - with or without opioid prescriptions - who come to us with the same or returned pain in the same spinal area where they had surgery. We are prepared to help.
BACK SURGERY OUTCOME PREDICTORS: # of Rx Prescribers and # of Rx Prescriptions
Very few hurry into back surgery. Back pain sufferers often look for help from various healthcare providers before surgery is contemplated and/or scheduled. 66.9% of patients in a retrospective study of patients who had single-level fusion surgeries employed one or less opioid prescription prescribers before surgery while 33.1% retained more than one opioid prescribers. The more pre-surgical opioid prescribers in a back surgery patient’s case was a predictor of increased improvement of post-surgical back pain. The more pre-surgical opioid prescriptions a patient had was a predictor for poorer surgical outcomes including worse improvement in back VAS pain scores, leg VAS pain scores, Oswestry Disability Index scores, and for more post-surgical opioid prescriptions, prescribers, and morphine milligram equivalents. An interesting and seemingly side point of the study was that if a nonoperative spine provider was included in the case, a better improvement in leg pain VAS scores was noted. (1) Chiropractic is a profession of nonoperative spine providers! We chiropractors are ready and well-trained to help contrain back pain before and after surgery and give patients an opportunity to reduce their opioid use for pain management.
CHIROPRACTIC POST-SURGICAL CARE AND OPIOID USE
For patients who underwent back surgery to find that they got the same pain in the back area that the surgery was supposed to fix, the return of pain can be frustrating. Some got back the medical model and get new pain medication prescriptions or extended prescriptions for the post-surgery meds. Others turn to chiropractic care. A new study of such patients who sought chiropractic care with chiropractors who are certified in Cox® Technic spinal manipulation (manual spinal decompression manipulation) stated that of the 59 participants in the study, 11 came into the study using opioid medications. Eight of them self-reported that they reduced or discontinued their use. Three said they maintained their use. (2) This is hopeful for many post-surgical continued pain patients that pain relief enough to not have to depend on medications may be possible]. Connected Chiropractic is Elgin’s post-surgical back pain provider to see for Cox® Technic treatment.
CONTACT Connected Chiropractic
Listen to this PODCAST with Dr. Marc Baker on The Back Doctors Podcast with Dr. Michael Johnson as he describes his use of The Cox® Technic System of Spinal Pain Management in delivering relief for a military veteran with back pain after back surgery.
Schedule your Elgin chiropractic appointment now. If you have undergone back surgery - currently using pain meds, opioids, or not - we are looking to working with you.
