Comparison Of Carrolltown Back Pain Relief Via Opioid Or Spinal Manipulation
“What should I do about my back pain? It’s been going on for so long.”
COSTS OF OPIOID VS SMT FOR CHRONIC LOW BACK PAIN MEDICARE PATIENTS
Chronic low back pain is a costly condition, but just how costly is it? An analysis of Medicare health expenditures for long-term care of chronic low back pain assessed the costs of opioid analgesic treatment versus those for spinal manipulation therapy. There were 28,160 participants aged 65-84 years old. 77% started with opioid therapy for their chronic low back pain. 23% began with SMT. The long-term expenses for opioid-therapy patients were 58% lower, but long-term overall healthcare expenses were 1.87 times greater for those same opioid patients. (1) Gormish Chiropractic & Rehabilitation follows a system of Carrolltown chiropractic treatment frequency steered by the 50% Rule seeking 50% relief of pain within a month with more visits initially and fewer as the pain reduces.
SAFETY OF OPIOIDS VS SMT FOR CHRONIC LOW BACK PAIN MEDICARE PATIENTS
Cost is one thing. What about safety? A review of patient files of Medicare beneficiaries aged 65 to 84 with chronic low back pain for 5 years studied the long-term safety of two usual approaches to chronic low back pain: opioid analgesic therapy and spinal manipulation therapy. The researchers considered a variety of patient records: patients who only received spinal manipulation, only received opioids, began with opioids then had spinal manipulation, and began with spinal manipulation then supplemented with opioids. What did they find? The risk of adverse drug events was substantially higher – 42 times higher - for patients who began with opioid therapy first for their chronic back pain than those who began with spinal manipulation. (2) Gormish Chiropractic & Rehabilitation utilizes the well research-documented, safe, gentle protocols of Cox® Technic.
ESCALATION OF CARE RISK FOR CHRONIC LOW BACK PAIN MEDICARE PATIENTS
Research documents another key factor in back pain treatment: how well does a treatment help the patient avoid more complex treatment? A third review of Medicare patient data studied the risk of escalated treatments – hospital stays, ER visits, imaging, back surgery, pain med interventions, and other types of encounters for potential complications of chronic low back pain – in long-term chronic low back pain care patients who started with opioid analgesic therapy or spinal manipulation therapy. Commencing care with spinal manipulation therapy was associated with reduced rates of escalation of care. The rate of escalated care encounters was 2.5 times greatear for opioid treatment patients. (3) The use of Cox® Technic at Gormish Chiropractic & Rehabilitation lessens the need for escalated care while carefully monitoring each patient for indications that such may be helpful or needed.
CONTACT Gormish Chiropractic & Rehabilitation
Listen to this PODCAST with Dr. Nike Taylor on The Back Doctors Podcast with Dr. Michael Johnson as she discusses treatment of chronic low back pain via the Cox® Technic Flexion Distraction System of Spinal Pain Management.
Schedule your Carrolltown chiropractic appointment soon. Whether the answer to the question of “what should I do about my back pain?” was opioid treatment or other care, spinal manipulation at Gormish Chiropractic & Rehabilitation may well be your next (or your first if you are just beginning the search for help) treatment that will help you attain the back pain relief you want in a cost-effective, safe way.
