Johnson Chiropractic Treats Back Pain and Neck Pain Cost and Pain-Reducing Effectively
Have you heard it said that numbers don’t lie? There are lots of numbers available in the world of back pain and neck pain statistics regarding costs and outcomes. Johnson Chiropractic shares a few of the more recent ones that are quite interesting and reassuring of our Richmond chiropractic approach integrating the Cox® Technic System of Spinal Pain Management.
OPTIONS USED FOR BACK PAIN VS BACK PAIN GUIDELINE RECOMMENDATIONS
Treatment guidelines for back pain are well-established. Are they put into action? Of 100 million patient healthcare insurance claims, 56,000 experienced persistent low back pain. These patients weren’t surgical candidates and had gone through conventional medical care. Of those 56,000, 60% utilized physical therapy, 50% experienced chiropractic, 26% got steroid injections and 66% took prescribed pain meds (57% opioids, 38% muscle relaxants). Were guidelines followed? Not exactly. Contrary to low back pain treatment guidelines, most patients were given opioids while several non-drug treatments were used by only a few. (1) Another report detailed that 775,893 general practitioner visits led to 6,904 referrals (just 0.89%) to physiotherapy, a non-drug treatment option for frequently referred problems like low back pain and osteoarthritis. (2) The healthcare costs of these patients were quite large. (1) Richmond back pain treatment costs don’t vary that much.
COSTS OF BACK PAIN CARE
A review of Humana healthcare claims resulted in these findings: the pre-operative costs of conservative treatment options for cervical spine radiculopathy were only 37.7% of the overall non-surgical expenses for this condition. Injection costs were the highest, coming in at $988 on average per patient. Other expenses were – in order of cost expenditure - physical therapy ($510), medications (narcotics, gabapentin, NSAIDs), bracing ($193), and chiropractic services ($193). 62% of overall costs for care of cervical radiculopathy went to diagnostic tests and such. (3) Richmond neck and back pain patients have an experienced chiropractor at Johnson Chiropractic.
INTERPROFESSIONAL REFERRAL FOR BACK PAIN CARE
Recent data showed a 106% increase in the number of physician visits for low back pain and extremity pain that led to a referral to another physician partly because of unsuccessful outpatient conservative treatment. The study that discussed this finding concluded with the suggestion that patients who are most likely to need surgery would be referred to as their first subspeciality, a surgeon. Further, patients who are less likely to need surgery would see a non-operative spine specialist or primary care physician. (4) Your Richmond chiropractor at Johnson Chiropractic is well-prepared to be the Richmond non-surgical spine specialist this article describes for our Richmond low back pain and neck pain and arm pain and leg pain sufferers!
CLINICAL OUTCOMES OF TREATMENT
Of 609 patients with sciatica and back-related leg pain visiting primary care physicians, only 55% reported ‘improvement’ – just 30% or more reduction in disability - at one year follow-up. (5) Chiropractors using the Cox® Technic System of Spinal Pain Management strive for at minimum a 50% reduction of pain non-surgically in a month. In a 1000 cases study of Cox® Technic treatment outcomes, leg pain radicular patients improved significantly more with Cox® Technic flexion distraction therapy than with physical therapy. (6) In a study of post-surgical continued back pain patients, 81% of them reported greater than 50% relief of pain in 11 visits in 49 days (mean). At two your follow-up, 78.6% of them still had greater than 50% relief of pain. Mean relief of pain was continued: 71.6% at the end of active care and 70% at 2-year follow-up. (7) Your Richmond chiropractor delivers just such relief and knows when to refer if necessary.
CONTACT Johnson Chiropractic
Listen to this PODCAST with Dr. Byron Folwell on The Back Doctors Podcast with Dr. Michael Johnson as he illustrates The Cox® Technic System of Spinal Pain Management incorporation for reducing post-surgical continued back pain.
Schedule your Richmond chiropractic appointment today. Do not let numbers worry you. Let them lead you down the path to pain relief. See you soon!
