Have you heard it said that numbers don’t lie? With all the numbers out there about back and neck pain
costs and outcomes, we can put that to the test. Gormish Chiropractic & Rehabilitation shares a few of the more
recent ones that are quite interesting and reassuring
of our Carrolltown chiropractic method using
the Cox® Technic System of Spinal Pain Management.
OPTIONS USED FOR BACK PAIN VS BACK PAIN GUIDELINE
RECOMMENDATIONS
Treatment guidelines for back pain are well-published. Are they put into action? Of 100 million patient
healthcare insurance claims, 56,000 had persistent low back
pain. These patients weren’t surgical candidates and had experienced conventional medical care. Of those 56,000,
60% underwent physical therapy, 50% underwent
chiropractic, 26% got steroid injections and 66% took
prescribed pain meds (57% opioids, 38% muscle relaxants). Were guidelines followed? Not exactly. Contrary to low
back pain treatment guidelines, most patients were prescribed
opioids while several non-drug treatments were used by only a
few. (1) Another report stated that 775,893 general practitioner
visits resulted in 6,904 referrals (just 0.89%) to physiotherapy, a
non-drug treatment option for commonly
referred problems like low back pain and osteoarthritis. (2) The healthcare
costs of these patients were very large. (1) Carrolltown
back pain treatment costs are not that different.
COSTS OF BACK PAIN CARE
According
to a review of Humana insurance claims, the pre-operative costs
of conservative treatment alternatives for cervical spine
radiculopathy were only 37.7% of the total non-operative
costs for this condition. Injection costs were the highest,
costing $988 on average per patient. Other expenses
were – in order of cost expenditure - physical therapy ($510), medications (narcotics,
gabapentin, NSAIDs), bracing ($193), and chiropractic services
($193). 62% of overall costs for care of cervical radiculopathy went
to diagnostic modalities. (3) Carrolltown neck and back pain sufferers
have an experienced chiropractic option in their chiropractor
at Gormish Chiropractic & Rehabilitation.
INTERPROFESSIONAL REFERRAL FOR BACK PAIN CARE
Recent data showed a 106% increase
in the number of physician visits for low back pain and extremity pain that led
to a referral to another physician partly
because of ineffective outpatient conservative treatment.
The study that talked about this finding concluded
with the suggestion that patients who are most likely to need surgery would be
referred to as their first subspeciality, a surgeon. Further,
patients who are less likely to need surgery would see
a non-surgical spine specialist or primary care physician. (4)
Your Carrolltown chiropractor at Gormish Chiropractic & Rehabilitation is ready
to be the Carrolltown non-surgical spine specialist this article describes
for our Carrolltown low back pain and neck pain and arm pain and leg pain
sufferers!
CLINICAL OUTCOMES OF TREATMENT
Of 609 patients with sciatica and back-related leg pain
visiting primary care physicians, only 55% reported ‘improvement’
– just 30% or more reduction in disability - at one year follow-up. (5)
Chiropractors using the Cox® Technic System of Spinal Pain Management strive
for at least 50% decrease of pain non-surgically
in a month. In a 1000 cases study of Cox® Technic treatment
outcomes, leg pain radicular patients improved significantly more
with Cox® Technic flexion distraction therapy than with physical therapy. (6)
In a study of post-surgical continued back pain patients, 81% of them reported
greater than 50% relief of pain in 11 visits in 49 days (mean). At two your
follow-up, 78.6% of them still had greater than 50% relief of pain.
Mean relief of pain was maintained: 71.6% at the end of active
care and 70% at 2-year follow-up. (7) Your Carrolltown chiropractor provides
just such relief and knows when to refer if needed.
CONTACT Gormish Chiropractic & Rehabilitation
Listen to this PODCAST
with Dr. Byron Folwell on The Back Doctors Podcast with
Dr. Michael Johnson as he illustrates The Cox® Technic
System of Spinal Pain Management integration for relieving
post-surgical continued back pain.
Make your Carrolltown chiropractic
appointment soon. Don’t let numbers worry
you. Let them lead you down the path to pain relief. See
you soon!