Elgin Chiropractics Role in Back Pain Guidelines
Guidelines and recommendations for so many things from how to properly change a light bulb to when to do back surgery pervade our daily lives. Guidelines are appreciated by people facing a new challenge or a new health condition for the first time. Guidelines for the care of back pain have been circulated through the years, many citing non-surgical care including spinal manipulation as first line treatment. Just how well are those guidelines followed by relevant healthcare providers, by back pain sufferers? Connected Chiropractic found these newly published reports attention-getting and thought our Elgin chiropractic patients would, also. We can all use them to design and go along with a guideline-based treatment plan.
BACK PAIN TREATMENT GUIDELINES
Your Elgin chiropractor is aware of the current guidelines to best assist you, our Elgin back pain patient. Back in 2009, the American College of Physicians added spinal manipulation to its guidelines’ recommendations of appropriate spinal pain care choices. (1) Connected Chiropractic uses the well-documented Cox® Technic System of Spinal Pain Management which has a published algorithm of decision-making for patients suffering pain below the knee and patients who experience pain that does not extend 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 through the years. (2) Such guidelines with research backing and proper clinical application build confidence that there is hope to our Elgin 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. Connected Chiropractic is one of those chiropractors. Beyond chiropractic, broad guidelines for back pain care are also accessible. Are they followed? A newly completed review of chiropractic and OT/PT use among 146,087 adults with low back pain in the past 3 months found that chiropractic care or OT/PT care for low back pain rose after clinical guidelines recommending their care were introduced in 2016. Between 2002 and 2018, a little less than a third of those adults with low back pain reported undergoing chiropractic and/or PT/OT with an increase to a third after the 2016 clinical guidelines were released. (3) This does show that guidelines help 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 referral. The patients were on average 53 years old with nearly 50% of them saying that they experienced 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 compiled 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 described themselves as capable and well-educated spine and musculoskeletal care experts who delivered evidence-based care founded 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 assist their back pain patients with those patient’s best interests in mind.
CONTACT Connected Chiropractic
Listen to this PODCAST with Dr. Ted Siciliano on The Back Doctors Podcast with Dr. Michael Johnson as he describes his use of The Cox® Technic System of Spinal Pain Management to relieve a patient dealing with back pain and foot drop.
Schedule your Elgin chiropractic appointment today. Facing a serious episode of back pain is certainly not equivalent 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!
