Emergency room physicians are trying
to figure out what is best to do for back pain
patients who choose the ER for help. It’s a quandry
for them, especially since nearly 3 million such
patients with undifferentiated musculoskeletal low back pain visit the emergency room for help each year! (1) Unless there is
cauda equina syndrome demanding surgery or an infection, pain is the issue. How best can a Buffalo, NY ER doc help?
How can an ER doctor provide higher value care? (2) Imaging and
medication. What can the Buffalo, NY chiropractic back pain specialist offer?
Spinal manipulation and nutrients. Chiropractic has published about successful
management of back pain.
EMERGENCY ROOM: IMAGING
The ER orders lots of
imaging. One in 3 patients who go to the emergency department
for back pain (compared to 1 in 4 who seek care
from a primary care physician) gets imaging ordered:
simple imaging 26%, complex imaging 8.2%. (3) Today’s imaging guidelines
do not support this as they recommend holding off
on imaging for 4-6 weeks of conservative care before imaging. (4) Maybe patients
are telling ER doctors 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 does not appear to enhance
function or pain any more than placebo plus ibuprofen by 1 week
after an ED visit for acute low back pain. (6,7) Combining
ibuprofen and acetaminophen didn’t decrease 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 visit an emergency room for their back pain continued to experience functional impairment 3 months later as well as
42% said they had moderate or severe pain. 46% say
they’ve used some type of analgesic pain reliever in the day prior. There are short and long-term issues for ER patients
with low back pain. (1) This may all be frustrating for ER physicians and their patients but not typically
for chiropractors and their chiropractic back pain patients. The
Buffalo, NY chiropractic back pain specialist at The Novelli Wellness Center is
armed with the best of chiropractic care for
Buffalo, NY back pain relief.
CHIROPRACTIC: MANIPULATION AND NUTRIENTS
Your Buffalo, NY 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 supports your Buffalo, NY chiropractor’s confidence that back
pain relief and management for many otherwise frustrated Buffalo, NY
back pain patients is possible.
Listen to this PODCAST
with Dr. Michael Schneider on The
Back Doctors Podcast with Dr. Michael Johnson who shares
the role of the primary spine physician who would be the physician
to seek out for back pain issues.
CONTACT The Novelli Wellness Center
Schedule a Buffalo, NY chiropractic appointment
with The Novelli Wellness Center especially if an ER trip
hasn’t produced the pain relief you wanted.
Buffalo, NY chiropractic care has shared a well-documented
and researched way to manage back pain.