“What should I do about my back pain? It’s been going on for
so long.”
Sound familiar? Sure, it does! Novelli Wellness Center knows
Orchard Park, NY
back pain patients struggle with this question. There
are a variety of options – rest, exercise, meds, manipulation, chiropractic,
medicine, yoga, acupuncture, surgery, etc. – which makes it hard
to decide. Recent studies have looked at the cost,
safety, and risk of treatment escalation for patients who choose
spinal manipulation
first versus those who choose opioid
analgesic treatment first for their chronic low back pain. The findings
are interesting.
COSTS OF OPIOID VS SMT FOR CHRONIC LOW BACK PAIN MEDICARE
PATIENTS
Chronic low back pain is a costly condition, but just how
costly is it? A review of Medicare health spendings
for long-term care of chronic low back pain assessed the costs
of opioid analgesic treatment opposed to those for spinal manipulation
therapy. There were 28,160 participants aged 65-84 years old. 77% started
with opioid therapy for their chronic low back pain. 23% began
with SMT. The long-term expenses for opioid-therapy patients were 58%
lower, but long-term overall healthcare expenditures were 1.87
times higher for those same opioid patients. (1) Novelli Wellness Center
follows a system of Orchard Park, NY chiropractic treatment frequency guided
by the 50% Rule looking for 50% relief of pain within a
month with more visits in the beginning and fewer
as the pain reduces.
SAFETY OF OPIOIDS VS SMT FOR CHRONIC LOW BACK PAIN MEDICARE
PATIENTS
Cost is one thing. What about safety? An analysis
of patient files of Medicare beneficiaries aged 65 to 84 with chronic low back
pain for 5 years studied the long-term safety of two common
approaches to chronic low back pain: opioid
analgesic therapy and spinal manipulation therapy. The researchers considered
a few types of patient records: patients who only underwent
spinal manipulation, only took opioids, started with
opioids then underwent spinal manipulation, and began
with spinal manipulation then added opioids. What did
they find? The risk of adverse drug events was substantially
higher – 42 times higher - for patients who started with opioid
therapy first for their chronic back pain than those who commenced
care with spinal manipulation. (2) Novelli Wellness Center uses the
well research-documented, safe, gentle protocols of Cox® Technic.
ESCALATION OF CARE RISK FOR CHRONIC LOW BACK PAIN MEDICARE
PATIENTS
Research documents another key factor in
back pain treatment: how well does a treatment help the patient avoid more complex treatment? A third review of
Medicare patient data looked at
escalation of care risk – hospital stays, emergency room visits,
imaging, back surgery, pain med interventions, and other types of encounters
for potential complications of chronic low back pain – in long-term
chronic low back pain care patients who started with opioid analgesic
therapy or spinal manipulation therapy. Starting care with
spinal manipulation therapy was associated with lower
rates of escalation of care. The rate of escalated care encounters was 2.5 times
higher for opioid care patients. (3) The use of
Cox® Technic at Novelli Wellness Center lessens the need
for escalated care while carefully monitoring each patient for
any signs that such may be helpful or needed.
CONTACT Novelli Wellness Center
Listen to this PODCAST
with Dr. Nike Taylor on The
Back Doctors Podcast with Dr. Michael Johnson as she discusses
treatment of chronic low back pain with the Cox® Technic Flexion
Distraction System of Spinal Pain Management.
Set up your Orchard Park, NY
chiropractic appointment now. Whether the response
to the question of “what should I do about my back pain?” was opioid treatment
or other care, spinal manipulation at Novelli Wellness Center may well be your next (or
your first if you are just beginning the search
for help) treatment that will get you the back pain
relief you want in a cost-effective, safe way.