They say
numbers don’t lie. With all the numbers out there about back and neck pain
costs and outcomes, we can put that to the test. Manchester Chiropractic & Sports Injuries presents a few of the latest ones that are really interesting and supportive
of our Manchester chiropractic method 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 observed? Of 100 million patient
healthcare insurance claims, 56,000 experienced persistent low back
pain. These patients weren’t surgical candidates and had experienced conventional medical care. Of those 56,000,
60% utilized physical therapy, 50% experienced
chiropractic, 26% received steroid injections and 66% took
prescribed pain meds (57% opioids, 38% muscle relaxants). Were guidelines followed? Not exactly. At odds with low
back pain treatment guidelines, most patients were given
opioids while several non-drug treatments were utilized 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-pharmacological treatment choice for commonly
referred problems like low back pain and osteoarthritis. (2) The healthcare
costs of these patients were quite large. (1) Manchester
back pain treatment costs are not that different.
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 just 37.7% of the total non-surgical
expenses for this condition. Injection costs were the greatest,
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) Manchester neck and back pain patients
have an experienced chiropractor
at Manchester Chiropractic & Sports Injuries.
INTERPROFESSIONAL REFERRAL FOR BACK PAIN CARE
New data showed a 106% rise
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 presented this finding ended
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 require surgery would see
a non-operative spine specialist or primary care physician. (4)
Your Manchester chiropractor at Manchester Chiropractic & Sports Injuries is well-prepared
to be the Manchester non-surgical spine specialist this article describes
for our Manchester 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% gave an account of ‘improvement’
– just 30% or more decrease 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 better
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 more 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 Manchester chiropractor provides
just such relief and knows when to refer if needed.
CONTACT Manchester Chiropractic & Sports Injuries
Listen to this PODCAST
with Dr. Byron Folwell on The Back Doctors Podcast with
Dr. Michael Johnson as he describes The Cox® Technic
System of Spinal Pain Management integration for reducing
post-surgical continued back pain.
Schedule your Manchester chiropractic
appointment now. Do not let numbers scare
you. Let them lead you down the path to pain relief. See
you soon!