Guidelines and recommendations for everything from how to properly replace a light bulb
to appropriately decide on whether to do back surgery pervade
our world. Guidelines are appreciated by people facing
a new challenge or a new pain for the first
time. Guidelines for the care of back pain have been available
for years, many citing non-surgical
care including spinal manipulation as first line treatment. Just how well are
those guidelines followed by involved healthcare providers,
by back pain sufferers? Johnson Chiropractic found these newly
published reports attention-getting and thought
our Richmond chiropractic patients would, also. We can all
use them to create and follow a guideline-based
treatment plan.
BACK PAIN TREATMENT GUIDELINES
Your Richmond chiropractor keeps
abreast of the current guidelines to best assist you, our Richmond
back pain patient. Back in 2009, the American College of Physicians listed spinal
manipulation in its guidelines’
recommendations of appropriate spinal pain care choices.
(1) Johnson Chiropractic utilizes the well-documented Cox® Technic
System of Spinal Pain Management which has a published algorithm of
decision-making for patients who have 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 came out in 1996
and have been tested in clinic-based data collections in the years since. (2) Such guidelines with research support and
proper clinical application soothe
our Richmond 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. Johnson Chiropractic is one of those
chiropractors. Beyond chiropractic, broad guidelines for back
pain care are also accessible. Are they followed? A recent 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 announced in
2016. Between 2002 and 2018, a bit less than a third of said
adults with low back pain said that they were getting chiropractic and/or PT/OT with an increase
to a third after the 2016 clinical guidelines were published.
(3) This does show that guidelines assist
with treatment planning but are not always followed. In Denmark
where guidelines for low back pain care are defined
for primary care before being referred found that 33% of
patients had not undergone an adequate course of treatment
in primary care before referral. The patients were on
average 53 years old with nearly 50% of them reporting
that they’d had pain for more than a
year, and 75% reporting
pain below the knee. (4) Struggles in the healthcare system to follow guidelines are seemingly global.
CHIROPRACTIC’S ROLE
A group of chiropractic leaders shared
their ideas 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 based on the latest research,
clinical expertise, and patient values. They provided
patient-centered care that extends to cooperating with other
healthcare providers with the best interest of the patient in mind. (5) Using guidelines, chiropractors are
confident that they can help their back pain patients with
those patient’s best interests in mind.
CONTACT Johnson Chiropractic
Listen to this PODCAST
with Dr. Ted Siciliano on The Back Doctors Podcast with
Dr. Michael Johnson as he illustrates his use
of The Cox® Technic System of Spinal Pain Management to help
a patient dealing with back pain and foot drop.
Make your Richmond chiropractic
appointment now. Facing a serious episode of back
pain is certainly not equivalent to changing a light bulb for
the first time, but it’s comforting to know that there are published
guidelines to properly manage
each task!