“What should I do about my back pain? It’s been going on for
so long.”
Sound familiar? Sure, it does! Moses Chiropractic knows
West Palm Beach
back pain patients wrestle with this problem. There
are a variety of 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 compared with those who choose opioid
analgesic treatment initially for their chronic low back pain. The results
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 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 costs for opioid-therapy patients were 58%
lower, but long-term overall healthcare expenses were 1.87
times higher for those same opioid patients. (1) Moses Chiropractic
follows a system of West Palm Beach chiropractic treatment frequency steered
by the 50% Rule seeking 50% relief of pain within 30 days 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? 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
approaches to chronic low back pain: opioid
analgesic therapy and spinal manipulation therapy. The researchers studied
a variety of patient records: patients who only underwent
spinal manipulation, only received opioids, began with
opioids then had spinal manipulation, and began
with spinal manipulation then supplemented with opioids. What did
they find? The risk of adverse drug events was quite a bit
higher – 42 times higher - for patients who began with opioid
therapy initially for their chronic back pain than those who commenced
care with spinal manipulation. (2) Moses Chiropractic 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 important 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 began 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
higher for opioid treatment patients. (3) The use of
Cox® Technic at Moses Chiropractic minimizes the requirement
for escalated care while cautiously monitoring each patient for
any signs that such may be helpful or needed.
CONTACT Moses Chiropractic
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 via the Cox® Technic Flexion
Distraction System of Spinal Pain Management.
Set up your West Palm Beach
chiropractic appointment soon. Whether the answer
to the question of “what should I do about my back pain?” was opioid treatment
or other care, spinal manipulation at Moses Chiropractic may well be your next (or
your initial if you are just beginning the search
for help) treatment that will get you the back pain
relief you are seeking in a cost-effective, safe way.