Are you unsure when to go visit the chiropractor? Well, this recent publication from United Health Care might help with your decision.
“Pain serves as a warning signal that something wrong is going on.”
-Jordan Belfort
PAIN IS NOT NORMAL…let me repeat, PAIN IS NOT NORMAL. The quote above is the truth. All of us get this mentality where we just deal with whatever pains/aches we have. “My back always hurts, I have just gotten use to it, or, “Whenever I get a headache, I just lay down for 2 hours and it goes away.” This is a terrible mentality to get into and it gives us a BAD Quality of Life!!!
Evidence Showing That Chiropractic Care Should be a FIRST Resort for Neck and Low Back Pain!
Recently, United Health Care, released an evidenced-based clinical treatment guideline for neck and low back pain. This lays out what primary care physicians need to do when patients present with neck or low back pain.
First, lets start out with how prevalent these types of pain are. Globally, over HALF a BILLION experience low back pain and over a THIRD of a BILLION experience neck pain that lasts for at least 3 months.
There is a stat used in healthcare called disability-adjusted life years (DALYs). This is a measure of the overall disease burden, expressed as the number of years lost due to ill health, disability, or early death. The top 4 leading causes of DALYs are:
- Ischemic heart disease
- Cerebrovascular disease
- Lower respiratory infection
- Low back and Neck pain
NUMBER 4 is low back and neck pain…this is not good.
Financially, this hurts our society. Low back pain is a leading driver of opioid prescriptions in the U.S. In addition, people experiencing low back pain are often exposed to unnecessary risk and expense due to the rapid increase in musculoskeletal treatment services that lack clear benefits, such as spinal injections and spinal imaging (UHC study).
You guys…spinal injections and spinal imaging make up nearly half of all health care services offered to address low back pain.
Below is a document that summarizes UHC’s publication:
This is happening all over the world and the treatment guidelines that have been used for these problems, ARE NOT WORKING. I’m going to lay out 2 scenarios. The first is what is commonly done in our society today. The second is the NEW guidelines doctors are supposed to follow regarding treatment of non-complicated low back or neck pain.
Scenario 1: How Neck and Low Back Pain has been commonly treated:
- Patient walks into primary doctors office with low back or neck pain
- Doctor performs exam and finds no red flags
- Doctor either orders expensive unnecessary imaging AND/OR prescribes opioids
- Patient takes prescribed medications, gets addicted, and BAM opioid crisis hits again
Scenario 2: Clinical Guideline Doctors are now supposed to follow:
- Patient walks into primary physicians office with low back or neck pain
- Doctor performs exam and finds no red flags
- Doctor explains to patient the risk of taking opioids and the risks of surgical interventions
- Doctor then explains to patient the top 4 alternative ways to treat their neck or low back pain (1. Spinal manipulation 2. Acupuncture 3. Yoga 4. Exercise/Massage)
- Doctor then refers to the NUMBER 1 non-invasive care option…SPINAL MANIPULATION!
- Patient visits chiropractor, follows care plan, Feels Better, Lives Young, & Lives Longer!
United Health Care Released These Projections for 2021 if evidenced-based treatment services are increased by 25%:
- 21% reduction in spinal surgeries
- 19% reduction in opioid use
- 22% reduction in spinal imaging
- 49% lower total costs for people starting with chiropractic
Educate yourself on the best type of treatment for your situation!
I am a Chiropractor. This means that I am a Musculoskeletal Expert. This is what I do, this is what I see come into our office EVERYDAY! The reality is that patients are being under treated and they are not being led to the best options of care for neck and low back pain. Its unfortunate that patients are often just prescribed a pill to cover their symptoms. Wouldn’t you want to get rid of your symptoms and live a better quality of life??? To me that’s an easy decision. We care about each and every one of you and want whats best for your health. Educate yourselves and make the best/smartest decisions relative to your health!
Isn’t it time for you to try Chiropractic?
