What do you expect from your
chiropractic care of Auburn
back pain? That is a pivotal question. Research
reports that that questions of expectations plays
a role in back pain treatment outcome whether that treatment is surgical or conservative. Dr. Le's Chiropractic & Wellness, L.L.C. aims
to listen to you and your expectations of our Auburn back
pain treatment and present the outcomes of our treatment
documented in practice and in
research.
INFLUENTIAL EXPECTATIONS FOR BACK SURGERY OUTCOMES
A new research project studied
patient and surgeon expectations of back surgery. Patients expected complete
relief and improvement of their back pain after lumbar spine surgery. Surgeons
expected improvement that ranged from a little to a lot depending
on the patient and his/her specific issues. Whose
expectations were met? The surgeons’
expectations. Two years after the back surgery, the patient-reported outcomes met the surgeon’s expectations.
The researchers stressed that effective communication about expectations
may well foster better outcomes. (1) That’s
why Dr. Le's Chiropractic & Wellness, L.L.C. devotes time to each Auburn
back pain patient at the beginning of care, ensuring
that the source of pain and its treatment plan are well-described.
If not, tell us!
AN ACCEPTABLE SYMPTOM STATE
If initial
patient expectations are not met with back surgery,
what is an “acceptable symptom state” for that back pain patient? What can he/she live with? For patients with chronic non-specific low back pain (with or
without active discopathy), 54% reported having an acceptable symptom
state at 1 month of care. Specifically, patient-reported acceptable symptoms included: 47.5 for lumbar pain, 30.5 for radicular pain, 39.3 for
disability, 10.0 for anxiety, and 6.7 for depression. (2) Dr. Le's Chiropractic & Wellness, L.L.C. knows no pain is the preferred state and is prepared to discuss
with our Auburn chiropractic patients their options and potential
outcomes.
DECIDING ON TREATMENT OPTIONS
Deciding
whether to have back surgery is a big decision. Evidence-based medicine sees that the patient at the center of care. What is
the patient perspective of this care? How is the patient perspective considered in treatment planning and decision making
among available options? A new paper pointed
out that the patient’s social, psychological, and other non-clinical
characteristics must be considered in planning care. (3)
One issue in the back-surgery decision that reportedly influences
the decision and the outcome expectation is opioid use. Lower dose and shorter-time-taking
opioid use patients expected more complete improvement compared
with non-users. They also had higher
expectations of positive outcome than higher-dose opioid patients. (4) For many patients, the prospect of work is a light at the end of the
tunnel which is encouraging
according to this new report on how back pain patient recovery
expectations influence clinical outcomes. A review of
60 studies reported that a patient’s recovery expectations are
probably strongly associated with future work participation. (5) Dr. Le's Chiropractic & Wellness, L.L.C. uses
effective, nonsurgical treatment of back pain to meet patient expectations once the research on outcomes for other back pain
sufferers is presented and absorbed. Auburn chiropractic care keeps the back pain patient at its center.
CONTACT Dr. Le's Chiropractic & Wellness, L.L.C.
Check out this PODCAST
with Dr. Anthony Galante on The Back Doctors Podcast with Dr.
Michael Johnson as he explained how Cox®
Technic System of Spinal Pain Management and chiropractic treatment helped manage back pain for a patient who was absolutely
positive about not wanting back surgery.
Schedule your next Auburn
chiropractic visit today. Dr. Le's Chiropractic & Wellness, L.L.C. invites you to think
about and answer the question of your
expectations for our treatment so that we can both be satisfied
with the outcome!