Have you heard it said that numbers don’t lie? With all the numbers out there about back and neck pain
costs and outcomes, we can put that to the test. OrthoIllinois Chiropractic shares a few of the more
recent ones that are quite interesting and supportive
of our McHenry chiropractic method using
the Cox® Technic System of Spinal Pain Management.
OPTIONS USED FOR BACK PAIN VS BACK PAIN GUIDELINE
RECOMMENDATIONS
Treatment guidelines for back pain are well-published. Are they put into action? Of 100 million patient
healthcare insurance claims, 56,000 experienced persistent low back
pain. These patients weren’t surgical candidates and had undergone conventional medical care. Of those 56,000,
60% utilized physical therapy, 50% underwent
chiropractic, 26% got steroid injections and 66% took
prescribed pain meds (57% opioids, 38% muscle relaxants). Were guidelines followed? Not exactly. In contradiction
to guidelines for low back pain treatment, most patients were prescribed
opioids while several non-drug treatments were utilized by only a
few. (1) Another report detailed that 775,893 general practitioner
visits resulted in 6,904 referrals (just 0.89%) to physiotherapy, a
non-drug treatment choice for commonly
referred problems like low back pain and osteoarthritis. (2) The healthcare
costs of these patients were quite substantial. (1) McHenry
back pain treatment costs are not that different.
COSTS OF BACK PAIN CARE
According
to a review of Humana insurance claims, the pre-operative costs
of conservative treatment alternatives for cervical spine
radiculopathy were just 37.7% of the total non-operative
expenses for this condition. Injection costs were the greatest,
coming in at $988 on average per patient. Other expenses
were – in order of cost expenditure - physical therapy ($510), medications (narcotics,
gabapentin, NSAIDs), bracing ($193), then chiropractic services
($193). 62% of overall costs for care of cervical radiculopathy were for diagnostic modalities. (3) McHenry neck and back pain patients
have an experienced chiropractor
at OrthoIllinois Chiropractic.
INTERPROFESSIONAL REFERRAL FOR BACK PAIN CARE
Recent data revealed a 106% rise
in the number of physician visits for low back pain and extremity pain that led
to a referral to another physician partially
because of ineffective outpatient conservative treatment.
The study that talked about this finding ended
with the suggestion that patients who are most likely to need surgery would see a surgeon
as their first subspecialty referral visit. Additionally,
patients who are less likely to need surgery would meet with
a non-surgical spine specialist or primary care physician. (4)
Your McHenry chiropractor at OrthoIllinois Chiropractic is ready
to be the McHenry non-surgical spine specialist this article describes
for our McHenry low back pain and neck pain and arm pain and leg pain
sufferers!
CLINICAL OUTCOMES OF TREATMENT
Of 609 patients with sciatica and back-related leg pain
visiting primary care physicians, only 55% reported ‘improvement’
– just 30% or more reduction in disability - at one year follow-up. (5)
Chiropractors using the Cox® Technic System of Spinal Pain Management seek at minimum a 50% decrease of pain non-surgically
in a month. In a 1000 cases study of Cox® Technic treatment
outcomes, leg pain radicular patients improved significantly better
with Cox® Technic flexion distraction therapy than with physical therapy. (6)
In a study of post-surgical continued back pain patients, 81% of them reported
greater than 50% relief of pain in 11 visits in 49 days (mean). At two your
follow-up, 78.6% of them still had more than 50% relief of pain.
Mean relief of pain was maintained: 71.6% at the end of active
care and 70% at 2-year follow-up. (7) Your McHenry chiropractor provides
just such relief and knows when to refer if needed.
CONTACT OrthoIllinois Chiropractic
Listen to this PODCAST
with Dr. Byron Folwell on The Back Doctors Podcast with
Dr. Michael Johnson as he describes The Cox® Technic
System of Spinal Pain Management integration for reducing
post-surgical continued back pain.
Make your McHenry chiropractic
appointment now. Do not let numbers scare
you. Let them enlighten your path to pain relief. See
you soon!