Guidelines and recommendations for everything from how to properly replace a light bulb
to when to do back surgery pervade
our world. Guidelines are appreciated by people confronting
a new task or a new health condition for the first
time. Guidelines for the care of back pain have been issued
through the years, many citing non-surgical
care including spinal manipulation as first line treatment. Just how well are
those guidelines followed by involved healthcare providers,
by back pain sufferers? Poulin Chiropractic of Herndon and Ashburn found these recent reports attention-getting and thought
our Ashburn chiropractic patients would, also. We can all
use them to design and go along with a guideline-based
treatment plan.
BACK PAIN TREATMENT GUIDELINES
Your Ashburn chiropractor is aware of the current guidelines to best assist you, our Ashburn
back pain patient. Back in 2009, the American College of Physicians added spinal manipulation to its guidelines’
recommendations of appropriate spinal pain care choices.
(1) Poulin Chiropractic of Herndon and Ashburn uses the well-documented Cox® Technic
System of Spinal Pain Management which has a published algorithm of
decision-making for patients with pain below the knee
and patients who experience pain that does not
go below the knee with a goal of 50% improvement in a month of care. These guidelines came out in 1996
and have been tested in clinic-based data collections in the years since. (2) Such guidelines with research support and
proper clinical application build confidence that there is hope to
our Ashburn chiropractic patients!
ARE GUIDELINES BEING FOLLOWED?
We hope so! Nearly 64% of chiropractors say they use (Cox®)
flexion distraction with their spine pain patients and have the algorithm/guideline
accessible to them. Poulin Chiropractic of Herndon and Ashburn is one of those
chiropractors. Beyond chiropractic, broad guidelines for back
pain care are available. Are they followed? A recent review of chiropractic and OT/PT use among 146,087 adults
with low back pain in the past 3 months found that
chiropractic care or OT/PT care for low back pain increased after
clinical guidelines recommending their care were introduced in
2016. Between 2002 and 2018, a bit less than a third of those
adults with low back pain said that they were going
through chiropractic and/or PT/OT with a rise to a third after the 2016 clinical guidelines were released.
(3) This does demonstrate that guidelines help
with treatment direction but are not always followed. In Denmark
where guidelines for low back pain care are documented
for primary care before referral found that 33% of
patients had not undergone an adequate course of treatment
in primary care before being referred. The patients were on
average 53 years old with almost 50% of them reporting
that they experienced pain for more than a
year, and 75% reporting
pain below the knee. (4) Struggles in the healthcare system to follow guidelines are seemingly global.
CHIROPRACTIC’S ROLE
A group of chiropractic leaders shared
their ideas on the role of the chiropractor in his/her own
practice, with his/her own patients, within the healthcare community, and
within society for healthcare. Quite interesting! Independently,
chiropractors reported themselves as experienced
and well-educated spine and musculoskeletal care experts who delivered
evidence-based care founded on the latest research,
clinical expertise, and patient values. They provided
patient-centered care that extends to cooperating with other
healthcare providers in the
best interests of the patient. (5) Using guidelines, chiropractors are
confident that they can help their back pain patients with
those patient’s best interests in mind.
CONTACT Poulin Chiropractic of Herndon and Ashburn
Listen to this PODCAST
with Dr. Ted Siciliano on The Back Doctors Podcast with
Dr. Michael Johnson as he illustrates his use
of The Cox® Technic System of Spinal Pain Management to help
a patient dealing with back pain and foot drop.
Make your Ashburn chiropractic
appointment now. Facing a serious bout of back
pain is certainly not equivalent to changing a light bulb for
the first time, but it is comforting to know that there are published
guidelines to navigate the way through the task!