Emergency room physicians are trying
to figure out what is optimal to do for back pain
patients who come to the ER for help. It is a dilemma
for them, particularly since nearly 3 million such
patients with undifferentiated musculoskeletal low back pain choose the emergency room for help annually! (1) Unless there is
cauda equina syndrome demanding surgery or an infection, pain is the issue. How best can a New Roads ER doc help?
How can an ER doctor provide higher value care? (2) Imaging and
medication. What can the New Roads chiropractic back pain specialist provide?
Spinal manipulation and nutrients. Chiropractic has published about successfully managing back pain.
EMERGENCY ROOM: IMAGING
The ER orders lots of
imaging. One in 3 patients who visit the emergency room
for back pain (compared to 1 in 4 who go to a primary care physician) has imaging performed:
simple imaging 26%, complex imaging 8.2%. (3) Today’s imaging guidelines
don’t support this as they say to hold 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 under
such care already? Not likely since only 34% of
patients who visit an ER tell the emergency department
physician that they use 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 looked at
all sorts of pain medication combinations ER doctors have prescribed
to see what is effective. What have
they found? Stronger pain medication options don’t
offer much of a difference. Adding baclofen, metaxalone, or tizanidine to
ibuprofen doesn’t seem to enhance
function or pain any more than placebo plus ibuprofen within a week
after an ED visit for acute low back pain. (6,7) Mixing
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 go to an emergency room for their back pain continued to experience functional impairment 3 months later as well as
42% reported moderate or severe pain. 46% report using some type of analgesic pain reliever in the last
day. There are short and long-term problems for ER patients
with low back pain. (1) This might be frustrating for ER docs and their patients but not always
for chiropractors and their chiropractic back pain patients. The
New Roads chiropractic back pain specialist at New Roads Chiropractic Center is
prepared with the best of chiropractic care for
New Roads back pain relief.
CHIROPRACTIC: MANIPULATION AND NUTRIENTS
Your New Roads chiropractor understands.
Familiarity 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 New Roads chiropractor’s confidence that back
pain relief and management for many otherwise frustrated New Roads
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 seek out for back pain issues.
CONTACT New Roads Chiropractic Center
Schedule a New Roads chiropractic visit
with New Roads Chiropractic Center especially if an ER visit
hasn’t resulted in the pain relief you wanted.
New Roads chiropractic care has shared 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."