“What should I do about my back pain? It’s been going on for
so long.”
Sound familiar? It does for many La Grande chronic low
back pain sufferers. Paulette Hugulet, DC, LLC knows
La Grande
back pain patients wrestle with this problem. There
are many options – rest, exercise, meds, manipulation, chiropractic,
medicine, yoga, acupuncture, surgery, etc. – which makes it hard
to choose. Recent research has looked at the cost,
safety, and risk of treatment escalation for patients who choose
spinal manipulation
initially 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? An analysis 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% started
with SMT. The long-term costs for opioid-therapy patients were 58%
lower, but long-term overall healthcare expenses were 1.87
times greater for those same opioid patients. (1) Paulette Hugulet, DC, LLC
follows a system of La Grande chiropractic treatment frequency steered
by the 50% Rule seeking 50% relief of pain within 30 days with more visits in the beginning and fewer
as the pain decreases.
SAFETY OF OPIOIDS VS SMT FOR CHRONIC LOW BACK PAIN MEDICARE
PATIENTS
Cost is one thing. What about safety? A review
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 usual
approaches to chronic low back pain: opioid
analgesic therapy and spinal manipulation therapy. The researchers studied
a variety of patient records: patients who only underwent
spinal manipulation, only took opioids, began with
opioids then underwent spinal manipulation, and started
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 began with opioid
therapy initially for their chronic back pain than those who began with spinal manipulation. (2) Paulette Hugulet, DC, LLC 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 such encounters
for potential complications of chronic low back pain – in long-term
chronic low back pain care patients who began with opioid analgesic
therapy or spinal manipulation therapy. Starting care with
spinal manipulation therapy was associated with reduced
rates of escalation of care. The rate of escalated care encounters was 2.5 times
higher for opioid treatment patients. (3) The use of
Cox® Technic at Paulette Hugulet, DC, LLC minimizes the need
for escalated care while carefully monitoring each patient for
indications that such may be helpful or needed.
CONTACT Paulette Hugulet, DC, LLC
Listen to this PODCAST
with Dr. Nike Taylor on The
Back Doctors Podcast with Dr. Michael Johnson as she describes
treatment of chronic low back pain with the Cox® Technic Flexion
Distraction System of Spinal Pain Management.
Set up your La Grande
chiropractic appointment soon. Whether the response
to the question of “what should I do about my back pain?” was opioid treatment
or other care, spinal manipulation at Paulette Hugulet, DC, LLC may well be your next (or
your first if you are just beginning the search
for help) treatment that will help you attain the back pain
relief you are seeking in a cost-effective, safe way.