Guidelines and recommendations for so many
things from how to correctly replace a light bulb
to when to do back surgery pervade
our daily lives. Guidelines are valued by people facing
a new task or a new pain for the first
time. Guidelines for the care of back pain have been circulated
through the years, many listing non-surgical
care including spinal manipulation as first line treatment. Just how well are
those guidelines followed by involved healthcare providers,
by back pain patients? Pensacola Spinal Rehab Center found these newly
published reports attention-getting and thought
our Pensacola chiropractic patients would, too. We can all
use them to design and go along with a guideline-based
treatment plan.
BACK PAIN TREATMENT GUIDELINES
Your Pensacola chiropractor is aware of the current guidelines to best assist you, our Pensacola
back pain patient. Back in 2009, the American College of Physicians added spinal manipulation to its guidelines’
recommendations of appropriate spinal pain care choices.
(1) Pensacola Spinal Rehab Center uses the well-documented Cox® Technic
System of Spinal Pain Management which has a published algorithm of
decision-making for patients suffering pain below the knee
and patients who experience pain that does not
extend below the knee with a goal of 50% improvement in 30 days or
so of care. These guidelines were released in 1996
and have been tested in clinic-based data collections through
the years. (2) Such guidelines with research backing and
proper clinical application build confidence that there is hope to
our Pensacola 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
accessible to them. Pensacola Spinal Rehab Center is one of those
chiropractors. Beyond chiropractic, general 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 documented that
chiropractic care or OT/PT care for low back pain rose after
clinical guidelines recommending their care were introduced in
2016. Between 2002 and 2018, a little less than a third of those
adults with low back pain said that they were going
through chiropractic and/or PT/OT with an increase
to a third after the 2016 clinical guidelines were released.
(3) This does demonstrate that guidelines help
with treatment direction 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 experienced pain for over a
year, and 75% reporting
pain below the knee. (4) Struggles in the healthcare system to abide
by guidelines are seemingly global.
CHIROPRACTIC’S ROLE
A group of chiropractic leaders gathered
their thoughts 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. Quite interesting! Independently,
chiropractors reported themselves as competent
and well-educated spine and musculoskeletal care experts who delivered
evidence-based care founded on the current research,
clinical expertise, and patient values. They delivered
patient-centered care that spreads to cooperating with other
healthcare providers in the
best interests of the patient. (5) Using guidelines, chiropractors are
confident that they can assist their back pain patients with
their best interests in mind.
CONTACT Pensacola Spinal Rehab Center
Listen to this PODCAST
with Dr. Ted Siciliano on The Back Doctors Podcast with
Dr. Michael Johnson as he describes how he used The Cox® Technic System of Spinal Pain Management to relieve
a patient dealing with back pain and foot drop.
Schedule your Pensacola chiropractic
appointment soon. Facing a serious episode of back
pain is certainly not comparable to changing a light bulb for
the first time, but it is comforting to know that there are published
guidelines to navigate the way through the task!