West Des Moines Chiropractic Healthy News - March 2018

Healthcare professions are establishing recommendations for practitioners to follow when dispensing health care in hopes of opening conversations between patients and their healthcare providers and among healthcare providers themselves. Your West Des Moines chiropractor at Executive Chiropractic of Iowa is always ready for such a conversation about West Des Moines back pain. Back pain is a huge health concern affecting 80% of us in West Des Moines at some point in life. Back pain is handled by many types of physicians in many kinds of professional societies. Their societal recommendations are related regarding imaging (Don’t perform within the first six weeks of pain unless there are “red flags.”), attempting non-surgical care before imaging and/or referring for back surgery, and shifting the patient care from passive to active care. More precisely, the American Academy of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation recommends not ordering repeat epidural steroid injections without checking for the reaction to the latter one and not prescribing opioid drugs for acute disabling low back pain without evaluation and a trial of other alternatives. (2) The American Chiropractic Association recommends not ordering repeat imaging to monitor progress of care, not obtaining spinal imaging for acute low back pain in the first 6 weeks of pain unless red flags are present, and avoiding long term usage of passive care but instead move the patient to active care. (3) The American College of Emergency Room Physicians recommends avoiding lumbar spine imaging in non-traumatic back pain except if there are severe or progressive neurological deficits or a suspicion of an underlying condition. (4) The American College of Physicians recommends not ordering imaging studies in patients with non-specific low back pain. (5) The North American Spine Society recommends not suggesting bed rest for more than 48 hours for low back pain, not using EMG studies to figure out the cause of spine pain, and not ordering advanced spinal imaging (ex MRI) in the first 6 weeks of non-specific acute low back pain devoid of red flags. (6) The Danish Health Authority recommends not referring patients for back surgery for a lumbar disc herniation with radiculopathy unless the severe and debilitating back pain continues for 12 weeks despite non-surgical treatment. (7) It’s up to you, the West Des Moines back pain patient or concerned loved one, to choose wisely the path of care for back pain relief. Consider these professions’ recommendations for back pain care to start a conversation with your West Des Moines chiropractor, your West Des Moines back pain specialist, at Executive Chiropractic of Iowa as you choose the type of care appropriate for your West Des Moines back pain relief.

 

TIP OF THE MONTH: Try Non-Surgical Interventions for West Des Moines Back Pain

Common West Des Moines non-surgical interventions for West Des Moines back pain relief are pain medications, exercise, manual manipulation, massage, and heat/ice. (8, 9) Included in the top non-surgical interventions to try before West Des Moines back surgery is spinal manipulation (10) of which 90% (11) is performed by chiropractors. The Cox Technic System of Spine Care – spinal manipulation with exercise, nutrition and passive care for pain and inflammation reduction with increased active care importance as pain decreases – fits Choosing Wisely recommendations as it works toward 50% relief of pain within 30 days of care (which is more than the 30% or greater improvement in self-reported pain and function pursued by medicine [12]) before advanced imaging or surgical referral without red flags. Bring your West Des Moines back pain to Executive Chiropractic of Iowa! Make it your first West Des Moines back pain relief healthcare stop!