“Doc, must I see you for a long time?”
“No, but you may want to!”
Researchers are documenting the support for chiropractic care in the shorter and longer term also known as maintenance care. Benefits consist of pain relief and return of function in the short term and continued pain relief, continued function, and higher confidence in performing activities of daily living. New Hampshire Spine and Sport trusts our Southern New Hampshire chiropractic patients to make the best decision for their condition as they know themselves and their bodies well.
CHIROPRACTIC RELIEF: TIME, VISITS AND WORSE PAIN, FUNCTION RETURN
A RAND Human Subjects Protection Committee-approved study of chronic back pain (1362) and chronic neck pain (1214) patients evaluated how quickly they improved with chiropractic care and how much functional improvement they felt. These patients were found to suffer with mild pain for the most part. Back and neck pain decreased, and function recovered gradually over three months of chiropractic care. When frequency of chiropractic visits was considered in the analysis, those who experienced the worst pain went for more visits. Only when chronic low back pain patients made visits more than one time a week was the impact beneficial and impacted the outcome toward more improvement. (1) Studies like this can assist patients with their expectations and payers with their treatment plan decision-making for coverage. New Hampshire Spine and Sport is so glad to read about these published studies to share with our Southern New Hampshire back pain patients.
TREATMENT PLANNING FOR BACK PAIN RELIEF: Chiropractic Maintenance Care
Not all back pain patients are the same. Southern New Hampshire back pain has biological, social, and psychological influences]30] that should be taken into consideration as well. A collection of back pain patients’ response to chiropractic care alone versus multidisciplinary care uncovered a relatively small difference in outcome which makes sense that inserting ancillary care helps. (2) Same with continued chiropractic care. Patients who followed maintenance care recommendations noted fewer pain days and fewer activity-limited days. (3) Back pain patients who adhered to recommendations for maintenance care valued its being patient-centered. Cost, low availability, and fear of treatment were factors they thought stood in the way of their following recommended maintenance care. (4) A patient with a 13-year history of chiropractic once a month maintenance care including cervical spine long-y distraction for cervical radiculopathy and related retrolisthesis (backward slipping of one spinal vertebral bone on its spinal neighbors) maintained the patient’s asymptomatic state, sustained the spine functioning as best as possible, and brought about a steady decrease in the cervical spine retrolisthesis. Older neck pain patients who got long-term chiropractic care and exercise for neck pain reported greater improvement in pain, function, balance, and self-efficacy (confidence in doing daily activities and such). Chiropractic care was thought to improve pain and control symptoms while exercise boosted self-efficacy and confidence to be able to keep active and mobile and in being able to self-manage their condition. (6) New Hampshire Spine and Sport carefully designs a treatment plan for each individual patient for optimal outcomes for each.
CONTACT New Hampshire Spine and Sport
Listen to the PODCAST with Dr. Robert Borzone on the Back Doctors Podcast with Dr. Michael Johnson as he describes the effectiveness of continued chiropractic care with the Cox® Technic System of Spinal Pain Management for his patient with a disc herniation.
Schedule your next Southern New Hampshire chiropractic appointment with New Hampshire Spine and Sport. Our back pain and neck pain patients don’t have to see us, but many do because they feel good and want to stay that way.