Williamson Chiropractic Healthy News - March 2018

Healthcare professions are setting forth recommendations for practitioners to abide by when providing health care with hopes to stimulate conversations between patients and their healthcare providers and among healthcare providers themselves. Your Williamson chiropractor at Apple Country Chiropractic is always ready for such a conversation about Williamson back pain. Back pain is a huge health concern upsetting 80% of us in Williamson at some point in life. Back pain is managed by many kinds of physicians in many kinds of specialist societies. Their societal recommendations are related regarding imaging (Do not perform in the first 6 weeks of pain except if there are “red flags.”), attempting non-surgical care before imaging and/or referring for back surgery, and shifting the patient care from passive to active care. More specifically, the American Academy of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation recommends not ordering repeat epidural steroid injections without evaluating the response to the last one and not prescribing opioid drugs for acute disabling low back pain without assessment and a test of other alternatives. (2) The American Chiropractic Association recommends not ordering repeat imaging to see how the patient is responding, not obtaining spinal imaging for acute low back pain in the first 6 weeks of pain unless red flags are present, and avoiding long term use of passive care but instead move the patient to active care. (3) The American College of Emergency Room Physicians recommends avoiding lumbar spine imaging in non-traumatic back pain except if there are severe or progressive neurological deficits or a suspicion of an underlying issue. (4) The American College of Physicians recommends not getting imaging studies in patients with non-specific low back pain. (5) The North American Spine Society recommends not advocating bed rest for more than 48 hours for low back pain, not ordering EMG studies to determine the cause of spine pain, and not ordering advanced spinal imaging (ex MRI) within the first 6 weeks of non-specific acute low back pain with no red flags. (6) The Danish Health Authority recommends not referring patients for back surgery for a lumbar disc herniation with radiculopathy unless the severe and debilitating back pain persists for 12 weeks in spite of non-surgical treatment. (7) It’s up to you, the Williamson back pain patient or concerned loved one, to choose wisely the course of care for back pain relief. Use these professions’ recommendations for back pain care to guide a conversation with your Williamson chiropractor, your Williamson back pain specialist, at Apple Country Chiropractic as you choose the type of care proper for your Williamson back pain relief.

 

TIP OF THE MONTH: Try Non-Surgical Interventions for Williamson Back Pain

Common Williamson non-surgical interventions for Williamson back pain relief are pain medications, exercise, manual manipulation, massage, and heat/ice. (8, 9) Included in the top non-surgical interventions to try before Williamson back surgery is spinal manipulation (10) of which 90% (11) is done by chiropractors. The Cox Technic System of Spine Care – spinal manipulation with exercise, nutrition and passive care for pain and inflammation reduction with increased active care emphasis as pain reduces – matches Choosing Wisely recommendations as it seeks 50% relief of pain within 30 days of care (which is more than the 30% or greater improvement in self-reported pain and function pursued by medicine [12]) before advanced imaging or surgical referral without red flags. Bring your Williamson back pain to your Williamson chiropractor’s office! Make it your first Williamson back pain relief healthcare stop!