Emergency room physicians are trying
to figure out what is best to offer back pain
patients who visit the ER for help. It is a quandry
for them, particularly since almost 3 million such
patients with undifferentiated musculoskeletal low back pain choose the emergency room for help annually! (1) Unless there is
cauda equina syndrome demanding surgery or an infection, pain is the issue. How best can a Toronto ER doc help?
How can an ER doctor provide higher value care? (2) Imaging and
medication. What can the Toronto chiropractic back pain specialist provide?
Spinal manipulation and nutrients. Chiropractic has published about successfully managing back pain.
EMERGENCY ROOM: IMAGING
The ER performs plenty of
imaging. One in 3 patients who go to the emergency room
for back pain (as opposed to 1 in 4 who go to 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 say to hold 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? Probably not since only 34% of
patients who go to an ER tell the emergency department
physician that they get healthcare options like chiropractors,
massage therapy, acupuncture and the like. (5) What about the pain?
EMERGENCY ROOM: MEDICATIONS
Pain relief, it
seems, is what they can do. Researchers have studied
a variety of pain medication combinations ER doctors have used
to determine what works best. What have
they found? Stronger pain medication options don’t
offer much of a difference. Adding baclofen, metaxalone, or tizanidine to
ibuprofen doesn’t seem to improve
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 did not reduce 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 still
had functional impairment 3 months later as well as
42% reported moderate or severe pain. 46% report using 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 might be frustrating for ER docs and their patients but not typically
for chiropractors and their chiropractic back pain patients. The
Toronto chiropractic back pain specialist at Yorkville Chiropractic and Wellness Centre is
equipped with the best of chiropractic care for
Toronto back pain relief.
CHIROPRACTIC: MANIPULATION AND NUTRIENTS
Your Toronto 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 Toronto chiropractor’s confidence that back
pain relief and management for many otherwise frustrated Toronto
back pain patients is promising.
Listen to this PODCAST
with Dr. Michael Schneider on The
Back Doctors Podcast with Dr. Michael Johnson who describes
the goal of the primary spine physician who would be the physician
to seek out for back pain issues.
CONTACT Yorkville Chiropractic and Wellness Centre
Schedule a Toronto chiropractic visit
with Yorkville Chiropractic and Wellness Centre especially if an ER trip
has not resulted in the pain relief you wanted.
Toronto chiropractic care has figured out a well-documented
and researched way to manage back pain.
"This information and website content is not intended to diagnose, guarantee results, or recommend specific treatment or activity. It is designed to educate and inform only. Please consult your physician for a thorough examination leading to a diagnosis and well-planned treatment strategy. See more details on the
DISCLAIMER page. Content is reviewed by
Dr. James M. Cox I."