Research makes the healthcare world go ‘round! Research solidifies
the role of healthcare’s relief of pain. In
chiropractic healthcare, much research revolves around documenting chiropractic’s benefit for painful musculoskeletal conditions like neck pain, back pain, arm
pain and sciatic leg pain. Dr. Le's Chiropractic & Wellness, L.L.C. delivers just such research-documented, effective care to our
Auburn chiropractic patients.
CHALLENGE: DO HIGH QUALITY RESEARCH
A set of back pain researchers
challenged fellow researchers to come up with long-term
plans to decrease the problem of low back pain
on sufferers and healthcare systems. They described
that developing effective strategies remains a
huge job for back pain clinicians, doctors, and
researchers. Frustratingly, back pain disability levels have not
improved despite an increased quantity of
published research reports about back pain care.
No consensus on the best way to handle low back pain
has been achieved. Non-drug and non-invasive options
like exercise, manual therapy, massage, and such are general
recommendations. Other reviewing researchers indicated a few issues with back pain research: design
and analysis within the treatment clinical trials. (1) Designing research
studies is tough. Coming up with a “sham”
protocol for spinal manipulation that feels like spinal
manipulation is really challenging. (Just touching a spine can
be relieving some, but that is a topic for another discussion!) Observational studies are the next in line. How so? Researchers observe how
patients respond when they experience treatment and describe changes and effects. Fortunately, Cox®
Technic research has a blend of biomechanical and clinical
observational studies resulting in case reports, case series, as well as
retrospective and prospective clinical studies. Dr. Le's Chiropractic & Wellness, L.L.C. feels this mix of
research support helps outline the expectations our Auburn chiropractic
patients may expect.
MINIMAL CLINICAL IMPORTANCE
Sometimes, chiropractic
physicians and low back pain patients alike find themselves disappointed
with the outcomes of treatment for back pain. They shouldn’t
be! In medicine, the minimal clinically important difference (MCID) is reported 30% or 20% and even 10% improvement. That is reported to
be an “effective” outcome. Cox® Technic has offered 50%
improvement in 30 days as the goal…and still does. Many
times, chiropractic patients realize that 50% relief in fewer
than a month and that the 50% relief is closer to
70% or 80% or 90%! Sometimes, a patient’s response may be slower in reaching
relief or only reaches 30% or 40%. Some patients want more while
others, particularly patients who have already
undergone back surgery or sought non-relieving care
from many other providers, are thrilled. A study
of 1232 low back pain subjects discovered a MCID pain intensity of
2 (meaning a 2 point change on a scale of 0 no pain to 10 worst
imaginable pain). That’s not a big move but is realistic.
(2) It’s a statistic to share. Compared
with medical and surgical outcomes for back pain treatment that are as low
as 10% or 30% expected improvement MCID, our Auburn chiropractic
clinical outcome goals are high and often achieved.
THE CHALLENGE OF CHIROPRACTIC RESEARCH – AND HOW CHIROPRACTIC
ANSWERS
Chiropractic, like other complementary and integrative
healthcare professions, experiences a little more difficulty
in maintaining a flow of research as many
programs are not incorporated into large university situations
with well-established and well-financed research departments. Global
chiropractic researchers are seeking am amswer. Australia, Canada, and Denmark chiropractic
researchers have formed a leadership academy (CARL – Chiropractic
Academy for Research Leadership) for early-career chiropractic researchers to stimulate
more chiropractic research. US-based researchers are looking to
the RAND Corporation’s Center for Collaborative CIH Research to combine
research talent and assets to advance
chiropractic’s quality and quantity of research. (3,4) Robust research continues at chiropractic universities to record the
benefits of chiropractic for musculoskeletal-related pain like back pain, neck
pain, arm pain and leg pain.
CONTACT Dr. Le's Chiropractic & Wellness, L.L.C.
Listen to this PODCAST
with Ram Gudavalli, PhD, principal investigator of many Cox® Technic research
studies, on The
Back Doctors Podcast with Dr. Michael Johnson as he
describes research studies he’s managed.
Schedule your next Auburn
chiropractic appointment now. Bring your questions about the research
supporting our chiropractic care with you! Dr. Le's Chiropractic & Wellness, L.L.C. is always
ready to share research!