“What should I do about my back pain? It’s been going on for so long.”
Sound familiar? Sure, it does! New Hampshire Spine and Sport knows
Southern New Hampshire back pain patients struggle with this question. There are a variety of options – rest, exercise, meds, manipulation, chiropractic, medicine, yoga, acupuncture, surgery, etc. – which makes it difficult to choose. Recent research has looked at the cost, safety, and risk of treatment escalation for patients who choose
spinal manipulation initially compared with those who choose opioid analgesic treatment initially for their chronic low back pain. The results are thought-provoking.
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? A review of Medicare health expenses 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% began with opioid therapy for their chronic low back pain. 23% started 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) New Hampshire Spine and Sport follows a system of Southern New Hampshire chiropractic treatment frequency steered by the 50% Rule looking for 50% relief of pain within a month with more visits in the beginning and less as the pain decreases.
SAFETY OF OPIOIDS VS SMT FOR CHRONIC LOW BACK PAIN MEDICARE PATIENTS
Cost is one thing. What about safety? An analysis of patient files of Medicare beneficiaries aged 65 to 84 with chronic low back pain for 5 years looked at 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 underwent spinal manipulation, only received opioids, began with opioids then had spinal manipulation, and started with spinal manipulation then supplemented with opioids. What did they discover? The risk of adverse drug events was substantially higher – 42 times higher - for patients who began with opioid therapy initially for their chronic back pain than those who began with spinal manipulation. (2) New Hampshire Spine and Sport 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 important factor in back pain treatment: how well does a treatment keep a patient from having to undergo more complex treatment? A third review of Medicare patient data studied the risk of escalated treatments – hospital stays, emergency room visits, imaging, back surgery, pain med interventions, and other types of encounters for possible complications of chronic low back pain – in long-term chronic low back pain care patients who began with opioid analgesic therapy or spinal manipulation therapy. Commencing care with spinal manipulation therapy was linked to lower rates of escalation of care. The rate of escalated care encounters was 2.5 times higher for opioid care patients. (3) The use of Cox® Technic at New Hampshire Spine and Sport minimizes the need for escalated care while carefully monitoring each patient for indications that such may be helpful or needed.
CONTACT New Hampshire Spine and Sport
Listen to this PODCAST with Dr. Nike Taylor on The Back Doctors Podcast with Dr. Michael Johnson as she describes treatment of chronic low back pain via the Cox® Technic Flexion Distraction System of Spinal Pain Management.
Schedule your Southern New Hampshire chiropractic appointment now. Whether the answer to the question of “what should I do about my back pain?” was opioid treatment or other care, spinal manipulation at New Hampshire Spine and Sport may well be your next (or your initial if you are just beginning the search for help) treatment that will help you attain the back pain relief you are seeking in a cost-effective, safe way.