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 confronting
a new task or a new health condition for the first
time. Guidelines for the care of back pain have been issued
through the years, many recommending non-surgical
care including spinal manipulation as first line treatment. Just how well are
those guidelines followed by relevant healthcare providers,
by back pain patients? Manchester Chiropractic & Sports Injuries found these newly
published reports attention-getting and thought
our Manchester chiropractic patients would, also. We can all
use them to create and follow a guideline-based
treatment plan.
BACK PAIN TREATMENT GUIDELINES
Your Manchester chiropractor is aware of the current guidelines to best help you, our Manchester
back pain patient. Back in 2009, the American College of Physicians listed spinal
manipulation in its guidelines’
recommendations of appropriate spinal pain care options.
(1) Manchester Chiropractic & Sports Injuries uses 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 have pain that does not
go below the knee with a goal of 50% improvement in a month 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 help
our Manchester 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. Manchester Chiropractic & Sports Injuries 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 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 a rise to a third after the 2016 clinical guidelines were released.
(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 charted
for primary care before being referred found that 33% of
patients had not gone through 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 more than a
year, and 75% saying that they had
pain below the knee. (4) Struggles in the healthcare system to follow guidelines are seemingly global.
CHIROPRACTIC’S ROLE
A group of chiropractic leaders gathered
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. Quite interesting! Individually,
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 with the best interest of the patient in mind. (5) Using guidelines, chiropractors are
confident that they can help their back pain patients with
their best interests in mind.
CONTACT Manchester Chiropractic & Sports Injuries
Listen to this PODCAST
with Dr. Ted Siciliano on The Back Doctors Podcast with
Dr. Michael Johnson as he describes his use
of The Cox® Technic System of Spinal Pain Management to relieve
a patient dealing with back pain and foot drop.
Make your Manchester chiropractic
appointment soon. Facing a serious bout of back
pain is certainly not comparable to changing a light bulb for
the first time, but it’s comforting to know that there are available to properly manage
each task!