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Auburn Chiropractic Care Instead of an Emergency Room Visit and Pain Meds for Back Pain

Emergency room physicians are working on figuring out what is best to offer back pain patients who come to the ER for help. It’s a quandry for them, particularly since nearly 3 million such patients with undifferentiated musculoskeletal low back pain go to the emergency room for help annually! (1) Unless there is cauda equina syndrome demanding surgery or an infection, pain is the issue. What can a Auburn ER do? How can an ER doctor deliver higher value care? (2) Imaging and medication. What can the Auburn chiropractic back pain specialist offer? Spinal manipulation and nutrients. Chiropractic has published about successfully managing back pain.

EMERGENCY ROOM: IMAGING

The ER orders plenty of imaging. One in 3 patients who go to the emergency department for back pain (compared to 1 in 4 who go to a primary care physician) gets imaging ordered: simple imaging 26%, complex imaging 8.2%. (3) Today’s imaging guidelines do not support this as they say to hold off on imaging for 4-6 weeks of conservative care before imaging. (4) Maybe patients are telling ER doctors that they have been using such care already? Probably not since only 34% of patients who go to an ER tell the emergency department physician that they use healthcare options like chiropractors, massage therapy, acupuncture and the like. (5) What about the pain?

EMERGENCY ROOM: MEDICATIONS

Pain relief, it seems, is what they can offer. Researchers have studied a variety of pain medication combinations ER doctors have used to figure out what works best. What have they found? Stronger pain medication options do not offer much of a difference. Adding baclofen, metaxalone, or tizanidine to ibuprofen doesn’t appear to improve function or pain any more than placebo plus ibuprofen within a week after an ED visit for acute low back pain. (6,7) Mixing ibuprofen and acetaminophen did not reduce pain scores or the need for other analgesic pain meds compared with either ibuprofen or acetaminophen alone in emergency room patients with acute musculoskeletal injuries. (8) As a matter of fact, 48% of back pain patients who visit an emergency room for their back pain continued to experience functional impairment 3 months later as well as 42% said they had moderate or severe pain. 46% report using some type of analgesic pain reliever in the last day. There are short and long-term issues for ER patients with low back pain. (1) This may all be frustrating for emergency department physicians and their patients but not always for chiropractors and their chiropractic back pain patients. The Auburn chiropractic back pain specialist at Dr. Le's Chiropractic & Wellness, L.L.C. is armed with the best of chiropractic care for Auburn back pain relief.

CHIROPRACTIC: MANIPULATION AND NUTRIENTS

Your Auburn chiropractor gets it. Familiarity with chiropractic spinal manipulation via The Cox® Technic System of Spinal Pain Management with the addition of nutrition like chondroitin sulfate, glucosamine sulfate and curcurmin and turmeric supports your Auburn chiropractor’s confidence that back pain relief and management for many otherwise frustrated Auburn back pain patients is promising.

Listen to this PODCAST with Dr. Michael Schneider on The Back Doctors Podcast with Dr. Michael Johnson who describes the goal of the primary spine physician who would be the physician to seek out for back pain issues.

CONTACT Dr. Le's Chiropractic & Wellness, L.L.C.

Schedule a Auburn chiropractic visit with Dr. Le's Chiropractic & Wellness, L.L.C. especially if an emergency department trip hasn’t produced the pain relief you hoped. Auburn chiropractic care has shared a well-documented and researched way to manage back pain.

	Dr. Le's Chiropractic & Wellness, L.L.C. invites Auburn back pain patients to the clinic instead of the emergency room for pain meds whenever possible. 
 
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"This information and website content is not intended to diagnose, guarantee results, or recommend specific treatment or activity. It is designed to educate and inform only. Please consult your physician for a thorough examination leading to a diagnosis and well-planned treatment strategy. See more details on the DISCLAIMER page. Content is reviewed by Dr. James M. Cox I."