Executive Chiropractic of Iowa Offers Options to Opioids for Pain Relief

Opioids. Back Pain. Treatment Options. Chiropractic has a role in managing and easing pain that shouldn’t be overlooked. Primary care physicians are not very confident in treating musculoskeletal pain. (1) Family practitioners are the largest prescribers of opioids. (2) Meanwhile, who treats 40% of pain patients? Chiropractors! (1) Your West Des Moines chiropractor at Executive Chiropractic of Iowa sees many pain patients and eases plenty of West Des Moines back pain often exclusive of opioids.

STATISTICS ON OPIOIDS FOR PAIN

These statistics are founded on a large study of 478,981 freshly diagnosed, “opiate-naïve” patients who begin utilizing opiates for pain relief. (2)

• 40.4% of pain patients obtained opioid prescriptions for the first time inside the first year of pain but only 4% met the requirement for long-term use.
• Family practice doctors are the most usual 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 certainly to be prescribed opiates early in their pain cycle.
• Patients diagnosed first by a pain management doctor or physical medicine and rehab provider have a higher risk of long-term opioid use by 6.7% and 3.4%, respectively.

Executive Chiropractic of Iowa welcomes pain patients to seek West Des Moines chiropractic care sooner than later!

PHYSICIANS WHO TREAT PAIN

Primary care physicians (52%), pain physicians (2%), chiropractors (40%), acupuncturists (7%) care for chronic pain patients. Primary care physicians are the least probable physicians to feel confident managing musculoskeletal and neuropathic pain. (1) Chiropractors like yours at Executive Chiropractic of Iowa confidently use non-drug management and/or co-management with other healthcare personnel for the pain relief and pain control for West Des Moines back pain patients.

CHIROPRACTIC’S PLACE IN PAIN CARE

Executive Chiropractic of Iowa wonders why chiropractors aren’t more readily thought of in the process for West Des Moines pain relief, especially West Des Moines 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 stops 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 shares that patients believe their medical doctor understands nutrition. (4) And that is ok if healthcare professionals coordinated care sharing their expertise, acknowledging that each has a role 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

Knowing that a healthcare provider’s profession influences his/her treatment recommendations, guidelines for West Des Moines back pain patient care are established in an attempt to apply the expertise fully. Interdisciplinary care challenges differences among professions and their recommendation standards so that a patient gets a consistent therapy message with up-to-date treatment guidelines. Activity messages do vary 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) Executive Chiropractic of Iowa works with other local West Des Moines healthcare providers for patient care, appreciating their expertise and contribution to West Des Moines back pain patients’ return to activities of daily living that make each day better.

CONTACT Executive Chiropractic of Iowa

Schedule a West Des Moines chiropractic appointment with Executive Chiropractic of Iowa for interdisciplinary care of your pain. Your West Des Moines chiropractor is willing and able to work with fellow West Des Moines healthcare providers and to give you options on how to manage your back pain beyond and/or alongside opioid drug care.