Guidelines and recommendations for so many
things from how to properly change a light bulb
to when to do back surgery fill
our world. Guidelines are appreciated by people confronting
a new task or a new pain for the first
time. Guidelines for the care of back pain have been published
for years, many listing non-surgical
care including spinal manipulation as first line treatment. Just how well are
those guidelines followed by relevant healthcare providers,
by back pain patients? Satterwhite Chiropractic found these newly
published reports interesting and thought
our Oxford chiropractic patients would, also. We can all
use them to create and go along with a guideline-based
treatment plan.
BACK PAIN TREATMENT GUIDELINES
Your Oxford chiropractor is aware of the current guidelines to best assist you, our Oxford
back pain patient. Back in 2009, the American College of Physicians added spinal manipulation to its guidelines’
recommendations of suitable spinal pain care options.
(1) Satterwhite Chiropractic utilizes the well-documented Cox® Technic
System of Spinal Pain Management which has a published algorithm of
decision-making for patients with pain below the knee
and patients who experience pain that doesn’t
extend below the knee with a goal of 50% improvement in 30 days or
so of care. These guidelines came out in 1996
and have been tested in clinic-based data collections through
the years. (2) Such guidelines with research support and
proper clinical application help
our Oxford chiropractic patients!
ARE GUIDELINES BEING FOLLOWED?
We hope so! Nearly 64% of chiropractors say they use (Cox®)
flexion distraction with their spine pain patients and have the algorithm/guideline
available to them. Satterwhite Chiropractic is one of those
chiropractors. Beyond chiropractic, general guidelines for back
pain care are also accessible. Are they followed? A newly
completed review of chiropractic and OT/PT use among 146,087 adults
with low back pain in the past 3 months found that
chiropractic care or OT/PT care for low back pain rose after
clinical guidelines recommending their care were introduced in
2016. Between 2002 and 2018, a bit less than a third of said
adults with low back pain reported going
through chiropractic and/or PT/OT with an increase
to a third after the 2016 clinical guidelines were published.
(3) This does demonstrate that guidelines assist
with treatment planning but are not always followed. In Denmark
where guidelines for low back pain care are charted
for primary care before being referred found that 33% of
patients had not gone through an adequate course of treatment
in primary care before referral. The patients were on
average 53 years old with almost 50% of them reporting
that they experienced pain for over a
year, and 75% reporting
pain below the knee. (4) Struggles in the healthcare system to abide
by guidelines are seemingly global.
CHIROPRACTIC’S ROLE
A group of chiropractic leaders compiled
their thoughts on the role of the chiropractor in his/her own
practice, with his/her own patients, within the healthcare community, and
within society for healthcare. Quite interesting! Individually,
chiropractors described themselves as capable
and well-educated spine and musculoskeletal care experts who provided
evidence-based care founded on the current research,
clinical expertise, and patient values. They delivered
patient-centered care that spreads to cooperating with other
healthcare providers with the best interest of the patient in mind. (5) Using guidelines, chiropractors are
confident that they can help their back pain patients with
those patient’s best interests in mind.
CONTACT Satterwhite Chiropractic
Listen to this PODCAST
with Dr. Ted Siciliano on The Back Doctors Podcast with
Dr. Michael Johnson as he describes his use
of The Cox® Technic System of Spinal Pain Management to relieve
a patient dealing with back pain and foot drop.
Schedule your Oxford chiropractic
appointment today. Facing a serious bout of back
pain is certainly not equivalent to changing a light bulb for
the first time, but it’s comforting to know that there are published
guidelines to best manage
each task!