Opioids. Back Pain. Treatment Options. Chiropractic has a place
in managing and easing pain that shouldn’t be overlooked.
Primary care physicians aren’t very confident in treating
musculoskeletal pain. (1) Family practitioners are the leading
prescribers of opioids. (2) Meanwhile, who takes care of 40% of
pain patients? Chiropractors! (1) Your Oxford chiropractor at Satterwhite Chiropractic
takes care of many pain patients and eases a good deal of Oxford back pain often with
no opioids.
STATISTICS ON OPIOIDS FOR PAIN
These statistics are based
on a large study of 478,981 recently diagnosed, “opiate-naïve”
patients who begin taking opiates for pain relief. (2)
- 40.4% of pain patients obtained
opioid prescriptions originally inside
the first year of pain while only 4% met the requirement for
long-term use.
- Family practice doctors are the most common
first prescribers of opiates for pain whose risk of prescribing these early in
the pain process is 24.4% while those patients then have a 2% risk of long-term,
continued opiate use.
- Patients who seek care from emergency
medicine doctors (43.1%) or urgent care facility (40.8%) are most likely to be prescribed opiates early in their pain cycle.
- Patients diagnosed initially by a pain
management doctor or physical medicine and rehab provider have an increased risk of long-term opioid use by 6.7% and 3.4%, respectively.
Satterwhite Chiropractic welcomes pain patients to seek
Oxford chiropractic care sooner than later!
PHYSICIANS WHO TREAT PAIN
Primary care physicians (52%), pain physicians (2%),
chiropractors (40%), acupuncturists (7%) doctor
chronic pain patients. Primary care physicians are the least probable
physicians to feel confident managing musculoskeletal and neuropathic
pain. (1) Chiropractors like yours at Satterwhite Chiropractic confidently use
non-drug management and/or co-management with other healthcare
personnel for the pain relief and pain control for Oxford back
pain patients.
CHIROPRACTIC’S PLACE IN PAIN CARE
Satterwhite Chiropractic speculates why
chiropractors aren’t more readily thought of
in the process for Oxford pain relief, particularly
Oxford back pain relief. Chiropractic services intergrate
spinal manipulation (one of the highest recommended forms
of care for back pain by the American Pain Society and the American College of
Physicians (3)), exercise, and nutrition. What prevents some
medical doctors from considering nutrition? A recent article states the reason
in its title: “Nutrition: Push For Doctors To Learn Nutrition: Many Graduate
Without Training.” It also notes that patients believe
their medical doctor knows about nutrition. (4) And that is fine if
healthcare professionals coordinated care along their
lines of expertise, acknowledging that each
offers value in the care of the pain patient and has the best welfare
of the patient fundamentally. Chiropractors have expertise in non-surgical and non-drug care of pain, back
pain, and spine pain.
COORDINATING CARE
Recognizing that a healthcare provider’s
profession effects his/her treatment recommendations,
guidelines for Oxford back pain patient care are established
to try to use the expertise fully.
Interdisciplinary care challenges differences among professions and their
recommendation standards so that a patient receives a consistent
therapy message with up-to-date treatment guidelines. Activity messages
do differ by profession though: nurses were more restrictive in
their recommendations of activity; physicians were more aligned
with guidelines; physiotherapists recommended much more activity but less work
activity than physicians. (5) Satterwhite Chiropractic works with other
local Oxford healthcare providers for patient care, valuing
their expertise and contribution to Oxford
back pain patients’ return to activities of daily living that make each day better.
CONTACT Satterwhite Chiropractic
Schedule a Oxford chiropractic appointment with
Satterwhite Chiropractic for interdisciplinary care of your pain. Your
Oxford chiropractor is ready and willing to
work with fellow Oxford healthcare providers and to give you options on how to manage your back pain beyond and/or
alongside opioid drug care.