Opioids. Back Pain. Treatment Options. Chiropractic has a role
in managing and easing pain that shouldn’t be overlooked.
Primary care physicians are not very confident in treating
musculoskeletal pain. (1) Family practitioners are the leading
prescribers of opioids. (2) Meanwhile, who takes care of 40% of
pain patients? Chiropractors! (1) Your Fernandina Beach chiropractor at Amelia Chiropractic Clinic
takes care of many pain patients and relieves a
lot of Fernandina Beach back pain often with
no opioids.
STATISTICS ON OPIOIDS FOR PAIN
These statistics are based
on a huge study of 478,981 newly diagnosed, “opiate-naïve”
patients who begin taking opiates for pain relief. (2)
- 40.4% of pain patients received
opioid prescriptions initially inside
the first year of pain but only 4% met the requirement for
long-term use.
- Family practice doctors are the most common
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.
Amelia Chiropractic Clinic welcomes pain patients to seek
Fernandina Beach chiropractic care sooner than later!
PHYSICIANS WHO TREAT PAIN
Primary care physicians (52%), pain physicians (2%),
chiropractors (40%), acupuncturists (7%) take care of
chronic pain patients. Primary care physicians are the least likely
physicians to feel confident treating musculoskeletal and neuropathic
pain. (1) Chiropractors like yours at Amelia Chiropractic Clinic confidently use
non-drug management and/or co-management with other healthcare
personnel for the pain relief and pain control for Fernandina Beach back
pain patients.
CHIROPRACTIC’S PLACE IN PAIN CARE
Amelia Chiropractic Clinic wonders why
chiropractors are not more readily thought of
in the process for Fernandina Beach pain relief, particularly
Fernandina Beach back pain relief. Chiropractic services include
spinal manipulation (one of the highest recommended forms
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 believe
their medical doctor understands nutrition. (4) And that is ok if
healthcare professionals coordinated care along their
lines of expertise, acknowledging that each
has a role in the care of the pain patient and has the best welfare
of the patient fundamentally. Chiropractors are
proficient in non-surgical and non-drug care of pain, back
pain, and spine pain.
COORDINATING CARE
Knowing that a healthcare provider’s
profession influences his/her treatment recommendations,
guidelines for Fernandina Beach back pain patient care are established
to try to apply the expertise fully.
Interdisciplinary care challenges differences among professions and their
recommendation standards so that a patient receives a consistent
therapy message with current treatment guidelines. Activity messages
do vary 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) Amelia Chiropractic Clinic works with other
local Fernandina Beach healthcare providers for patient care, appreciating
their expertise and involvement in Fernandina Beach
back pain patients’ return to activities of daily living that make each day better.
CONTACT Amelia Chiropractic Clinic
Schedule a Fernandina Beach chiropractic appointment with
Amelia Chiropractic Clinic for interdisciplinary care of your pain. Your
Fernandina Beach chiropractor is ready and willing to
work with fellow Fernandina Beach healthcare providers and to offer you options on managing your back pain beyond and/or
alongside opioid drug care.