Emergency room physicians are working on figuring out what is optimal to offer back pain
patients who come to the ER for help. It’s a dilemma
for them, especially since almost 3 million such
patients with undifferentiated musculoskeletal low back pain choose the emergency room for help each year! (1) Unless there is
cauda equina syndrome demanding surgery or an infection, pain is the issue. What
can a Ashburn ER do?
How can an ER doctor deliver higher value care? (2) Imaging and
medication. What can the Ashburn chiropractic back pain specialist offer?
Spinal manipulation and nutrients. Chiropractic has published about successful
management of back pain.
EMERGENCY ROOM: IMAGING
The ER orders lots of
imaging. One in 3 patients who visit the emergency department
for back pain (compared to 1 in 4 who go to a primary care physician) has imaging ordered:
simple imaging 26%, complex imaging 8.2%. (3) Today’s imaging guidelines
don’t support this as they recommend holding off
on imaging for 4-6 weeks of conservative care before imaging. (4) Maybe patients
are letting the ER doctors know that they have been using
such care already? Probably not since only 34% of
patients who go to an ER tell the emergency department
physician that they get healthcare options like chiropractors,
massage therapy, acupuncture and the like. (5) What about the pain?
EMERGENCY ROOM: MEDICATIONS
Relief for the pain is what they focus on. Researchers have studied
all sorts of pain medication combinations ER doctors have used
to see what works best. What have
they discovered? Stronger pain medication options don’t
offer much of a difference. Adding baclofen, metaxalone, or tizanidine to
ibuprofen doesn’t seem to improve
function or pain any more than placebo plus ibuprofen by 1 week
after an ED visit for acute low back pain. (6,7) Combining
ibuprofen and acetaminophen didn’t reduce pain
scores or the need for other analgesic pain meds compared with either ibuprofen
or acetaminophen alone in emergency room patients with acute
musculoskeletal injuries. (8) As a matter of fact, 48% of back pain patients
who visit an emergency room for their back pain still
had functional impairment 3 months later as well as
42% said they had moderate or severe pain. 46% report using some type of analgesic pain reliever in the day prior. There are short and long-term issues for ER patients
with low back pain. (1) This might be frustrating for emergency
department physicians and their patients but not always
for chiropractors and their chiropractic back pain patients. The
Ashburn chiropractic back pain specialist at Poulin Chiropractic of Herndon and Ashburn is
prepared with the best of chiropractic care for
Ashburn back pain relief.
CHIROPRACTIC: MANIPULATION AND NUTRIENTS
Your Ashburn chiropractor understands.
Experience with chiropractic spinal manipulation via
The Cox® Technic System of Spinal Pain Management with the addition of
nutrition like chondroitin sulfate, glucosamine sulfate and curcurmin and
turmeric boosts your Ashburn chiropractor’s confidence that back
pain relief and management for many otherwise frustrated Ashburn
back pain patients is possible.
Listen to this PODCAST
with Dr. Michael Schneider on The
Back Doctors Podcast with Dr. Michael Johnson who describes
the goal of the primary spine physician who would be the physician
to turn to for back pain issues.
CONTACT Poulin Chiropractic of Herndon and Ashburn
Schedule a Ashburn chiropractic visit
with Poulin Chiropractic of Herndon and Ashburn especially if an emergency department visit
hasn’t produced the pain relief you hoped.
Ashburn chiropractic care has figured out a well-documented
and researched way to manage back pain.
"This information and website content is not intended to diagnose, guarantee results, or recommend specific treatment or activity. It is designed to educate and inform only. Please consult your physician for a thorough examination leading to a diagnosis and well-planned treatment strategy. See more details on the
DISCLAIMER page. Content is reviewed by
Dr. James M. Cox I."