Emergency room physicians are trying
to figure out what is optimal to offer back pain
patients who visit the ER for help. It is a quandry
for them, particularly since almost 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. How best can a Millville ER doc help?
How can an ER doctor provide higher value care? (2) Imaging and
medication. What can the Millville chiropractic back pain specialist provide?
Spinal manipulation and nutrients. Chiropractic has published about successfully managing back pain.
EMERGENCY ROOM: IMAGING
The ER does lots of
imaging. One in 3 patients who visit the emergency department
for back pain (compared to 1 in 4 who seek care
from a primary care physician) has imaging performed:
simple imaging 26%, complex imaging 8.2%. (3) Today’s imaging recommendations
don’t support this as they recommend holding 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 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
Relief for the pain is what they focus on. Researchers have looked at
all sorts of pain medication combinations ER doctors have prescribed
to see what works best. What have
they discovered? Stronger pain medication options don’t
offer much of a difference. Adding baclofen, metaxalone, or tizanidine to
ibuprofen doesn’t seem 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 for emergency room patients with acute
musculoskeletal injuries. (8) As a matter of fact, 48% of back pain patients
who go to an emergency room for their back pain still
had functional impairment 3 months later as well as
42% reported moderate or severe pain. 46% say
they’ve used some type of analgesic pain reliever in the day prior. There are short and long-term problems for ER patients
with low back pain. (1) This might be frustrating for emergency
department physicians and their patients but not typically
for chiropractors and their chiropractic back pain patients. The
Millville chiropractic back pain specialist at Wilson Family Chiropractic is
prepared with the best of chiropractic care for
Millville back pain relief.
CHIROPRACTIC: MANIPULATION AND NUTRIENTS
Your Millville chiropractor gets it.
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 Millville chiropractor’s confidence that back
pain relief and management for many otherwise frustrated Millville
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 seek out for back pain issues.
CONTACT Wilson Family Chiropractic
Schedule a Millville chiropractic appointment
with Wilson Family Chiropractic especially if an emergency department trip
hasn’t resulted in the pain relief you hoped.
Millville chiropractic care has figured out a well-documented
and researched way to manage back pain.
"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."