Opioids. Back Pain. Treatment Options. Chiropractic has a place
in managing and easing pain that should not 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 takes care of 40% of
pain patients? Chiropractors! (1) Your West Des Moines chiropractor at Executive Chiropractic of Iowa
takes care of many pain patients and eases a good deal of West Des Moines back pain often without opioids.
STATISTICS ON OPIOIDS FOR PAIN
The following stats are based
on a huge study of 478,981 freshly diagnosed, “opiate-naïve”
patients who begin taking opiates for pain relief. (2)
- 40.4% of pain patients accepted
opioid prescriptions for the first time within a 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 look for 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 initially 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 first!
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 likely
physicians to feel confident treating 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 speculates why
chiropractors are not more readily thought of
in the process for West Des Moines pain relief, particularly
West Des Moines back pain relief. Chiropractic services incorporate
spinal manipulation (one of the highest recommended types
of care for back pain by the American Pain Society and the American College of
Physicians (3)), exercise, and nutrition. What prevents 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 notes that patients think
their medical doctor knows about nutrition. (4) And that is fine if
healthcare professionals coordinated care along their
lines of expertise, acknowledging that each
offers value 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
Recognizing that a healthcare provider’s
profession influences his/her treatment recommendations,
guidelines for West Des Moines back pain patient care are established
to try to utilize the expertise maximally.
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 differ 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 collaborates 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 ready and willing 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.