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Johnson Chiropractic Offers Options to Opioids for Pain Relief

Opioids. Back Pain. Treatment Options. Chiropractic has a role in managing and relieving pain that should not be overlooked. Primary care physicians don’t feel much confidence treating musculoskeletal pain. (1) Family practitioners are the leading prescribers of opioids. (2) Meanwhile, who takes care of 40% of pain patients? Chiropractors! (1) Your Richmond chiropractor at Johnson Chiropractic treats many pain patients and relieves a great deal of Richmond back pain often exclusive of opioids.

STATISTICS ON OPIOIDS FOR PAIN

These statistics are based on a large study of 478,981 recently diagnosed, “opiate-naïve” patients who begin utilizing opiates for pain relief. (2)

  • 40.4% of pain patients obtained opioid prescriptions initially within a year of pain but only 4% met the requirement for long-term use.
  • Family practice doctors are the most usual first prescribers of opiates for pain whose risk of prescribing these early in the pain process is 24.4% while those patients then have a 2% risk of long-term, continued opiate use.  
  • Patients who seek care from emergency medicine doctors (43.1%) or urgent care facility (40.8%) are most likely to be prescribed opiates early in their pain cycle.
  • Patients diagnosed initially by a pain management doctor or physical medicine and rehab provider have a higher risk of long-term opioid use by 6.7% and 3.4%, respectively.

Johnson Chiropractic welcomes pain patients to seek Richmond chiropractic care first!

PHYSICIANS WHO TREAT PAIN

Primary care physicians (52%), pain physicians (2%), chiropractors (40%), acupuncturists (7%) take care of chronic pain patients. Primary care physicians are the least probable physicians to feel confident treating musculoskeletal and neuropathic pain. (1) Chiropractors like yours at Johnson Chiropractic confidently use non-drug management and/or co-management with other healthcare personnel for the pain relief and pain control for Richmond back pain patients.

CHIROPRACTIC’S PLACE IN PAIN CARE

Johnson Chiropractic wonders why chiropractors aren’t more readily thought of in the process for Richmond pain relief, especially Richmond back pain relief. Chiropractic services incorporate spinal manipulation (one of the top recommended types of care for back pain by the American Pain Society and the American College of Physicians (3)), exercise, and nutrition. What prevents some medical doctors from considering nutrition? A recent article states the reason in its title: “Nutrition: Push For Doctors To Learn Nutrition: Many Graduate Without Training.” It also notes that patients believe their medical doctor knows about nutrition. (4) And that is fine if healthcare professionals collaborated sharing their expertise, acknowledging that each offers value in the care of the pain patient and has the best welfare of the patient fundamentally. Chiropractors have expertise in non-surgical and non-drug care of pain, back pain, and spine pain.

COORDINATING CARE

Knowing that a healthcare provider’s profession effects his/her treatment recommendations, guidelines for Richmond back pain patient care are developed in an attempt to utilize the expertise maximally. Interdisciplinary care challenges differences among professions and their recommendation standards so that a patient gets a consistent therapy message with current treatment guidelines. Activity messages do differ by profession though: nurses were more restrictive in their recommendations of activity; physicians were more aligned with guidelines; physiotherapists recommended much more activity but less work activity than physicians. (5) Johnson Chiropractic works with other local Richmond healthcare providers for patient care, appreciating their expertise and involvement in Richmond back pain patients’ return to activities of daily living that make each day more pleasant.

CONTACT Johnson Chiropractic

Schedule a Richmond chiropractic appointment with Johnson Chiropractic for interdisciplinary care of your pain. Your Richmond chiropractor is ready and willing to work with fellow Richmond healthcare providers and to offer you options on how to manage your back pain beyond and/or alongside opioid drug care.

 
Richmond back pain and chronic pain often find relief at Johnson Chiropractic without opioids. 
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"This information and website content is not intended to diagnose, guarantee results, or recommend specific treatment or activity. It is designed to educate and inform only. Please consult your physician for a thorough examination leading to a diagnosis and well-planned treatment strategy. See more details on the DISCLAIMER page. Content is reviewed by Dr. James M. Cox I."