Juneau Chiropractic Healthy News - March 2018

 

Healthcare professions are establishing recommendations for practitioners to adhere to when delivering health care with hopes to stimulate conversations between patients and their healthcare providers and among healthcare providers themselves. Your Juneau chiropractor at Aurora Chiropractic Center is always ready for such a conversation about Juneau back pain. Back pain is a big health concern affecting 80% of us in Juneau at some point in life. Back pain is dealt with by many types of physicians in many types of professional societies. Their societal recommendations are similar concerning imaging (Do not perform in the first six weeks of pain except if there are “red flags.”), trying non-surgical care before imaging and/or referring for back surgery, and moving the patient care from passive care to active care. For example, the American Academy of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation recommends not ordering repeat epidural steroid injections without evaluating the reaction to the last one and not prescribing opioid drugs for acute disabling low back pain without assessment and a trial of other alternatives. (2) The American Chiropractic Association recommends not ordering repeat imaging to monitor progress of care, not obtaining spinal imaging for acute low back pain in the first 6 weeks of pain unless red flags are noted, and avoiding long term usage of passive care but instead shift the patient to active care. (3) The American College of Emergency Room Physicians recommends avoiding lumbar spine imaging in non-traumatic back pain unless there are severe or progressive neurological deficits or a suspicion of an underlying issue. (4) The American College of Physicians recommends not getting imaging studies in patients with non-specific low back pain. (5) The North American Spine Society recommends not advocating bed rest for more than 48 hours for low back pain, not ordering EMG studies to figure out the cause of spine pain, and not doing advanced spinal imaging (ex MRI) within the first 6 weeks of non-specific acute low back pain with no red flags. (6) The Danish Health Authority recommends not sending patients for back surgery for a lumbar disc herniation with radiculopathy unless the severe and debilitating back pain continues for 12 weeks regardless of non-surgical treatment. (7) It’s up to you, the Juneau back pain patient or concerned loved one, to choose wisely the course of care for back pain relief. Use these professions’ recommendations for back pain care to begin a conversation with your Juneau chiropractor, your Juneau back pain specialist, at Aurora Chiropractic Center as you choose the type of care appropriate for your Juneau back pain relief.

TIP OF THE MONTH: Try Non-Surgical Interventions for Juneau Back Pain

Common Juneau non-surgical interventions for Juneau back pain relief are pain medications, exercise, manual manipulation, massage, and heat/ice. (8, 9) Included in the top non-surgical interventions to try before Juneau back surgery is spinal manipulation (10) of which 90% (11) is performed by chiropractors. The Cox Technic System of Spine Care – spinal manipulation with exercise, nutrition and passive care for pain and inflammation reduction with increased active care emphasis as pain decreases – fits Choosing Wisely recommendations as it seeks 50% relief of pain within 30 days of care (which is more than the 30% or greater improvement in self-reported pain and function pursued by medicine [12]) before advanced imaging or surgical referral without red flags. Bring your Juneau back pain to your Juneau chiropractor’s office! Make it your first Juneau back pain relief healthcare stop!