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 optimal to offer back pain patients who visit the ER for help. It is a dilemma for them, particularly since almost 3 million such patients with undifferentiated musculoskeletal low back pain choose the emergency room for help each year! (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 provide? Spinal manipulation and nutrients. Chiropractic has published about successfully managing back pain.
EMERGENCY ROOM: IMAGING
The ER performs lots of imaging. One in 3 patients who visit the emergency room for back pain (compared to 1 in 4 who go to a primary care physician) has imaging performed: 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 under such care already? Not likely as only 34% of patients who visit an ER share with the emergency department physician that they get 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 prescribed to determine what is effective. 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 enhance function or pain any more than placebo plus ibuprofen by 1 week after an ED visit for acute low back pain. (6,7) Mixing ibuprofen and acetaminophen did not decrease 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 go to an ER for their back pain still had 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 day prior. There are short and long-term issues for ER patients with low back pain. (1) This may all be frustrating for ER docs 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 equipped with the best of chiropractic care for Auburn back pain relief.
CHIROPRACTIC: MANIPULATION AND NUTRIENTS
Your Auburn chiropractor understands. Skill 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 possible.
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 turn to for back pain issues.
CONTACT Dr. Le's Chiropractic & Wellness, L.L.C.
Schedule a Auburn chiropractic appointment with Dr. Le's Chiropractic & Wellness, L.L.C. especially if an emergency department trip has not resulted in the pain relief you hoped. Auburn chiropractic care has figured out a well-documented and researched way to manage back pain.
