Have you heard it said that numbers don’t lie? There are lots of numbers available
in the world of back pain and neck pain statistics regarding costs and
outcomes. Paulette Hugulet, DC, LLC presents a few of the latest ones that are really interesting and reassuring
of our La Grande chiropractic method using
the Cox® Technic System of Spinal Pain Management.
OPTIONS USED FOR BACK PAIN VS BACK PAIN GUIDELINE
RECOMMENDATIONS
Treatment guidelines for back pain are well-published. Are they put into action? Of 100 million patient
healthcare insurance claims, 56,000 had persistent low back
pain. These patients weren’t surgical candidates and had experienced conventional medical care. Of those 56,000,
60% utilized physical therapy, 50% underwent
chiropractic, 26% received steroid injections and 66% took
prescribed pain meds (57% opioids, 38% muscle relaxants). Were guidelines followed? Not exactly. At odds with guidelines for low back pain treatment, most patients were prescribed
opioids while several non-drug treatments were used by only a
few. (1) Another report detailed that 775,893 general practitioner
visits led to 6,904 referrals (just 0.89%) to physiotherapy, a
non-pharmacological treatment choice for frequently
referred problems like low back pain and osteoarthritis. (2) The healthcare
costs of these patients were very large. (1) La Grande
back pain treatment costs are not that different.
COSTS OF BACK PAIN CARE
A review of Humana healthcare claims resulted in these findings: the pre-surgical costs
of conservative treatment alternatives for cervical spine
radiculopathy were just 37.7% of the overall non-surgical
costs for this condition. Injection costs were the greatest,
costing $988 on average per patient. Other expenses
were – in order of cost expenditure - physical therapy ($510), medications (narcotics,
gabapentin, NSAIDs), bracing ($193), then chiropractic services
($193). 62% of overall costs for care of cervical radiculopathy went
to diagnostic tests and such. (3) La Grande neck and back pain sufferers
have an experienced chiropractic option in their chiropractor
at Paulette Hugulet, DC, LLC.
INTERPROFESSIONAL REFERRAL FOR BACK PAIN CARE
Recent data showed a 106% rise
in the number of physician visits for low back pain and extremity pain that resulted in referral to another physician partially
because of ineffective outpatient conservative treatment.
The study that discussed this finding concluded
with the suggestion that patients who are most likely to need surgery would see a surgeon
as their first subspecialty referral visit. Additionally,
patients who are less likely to require surgery would meet with
a non-surgical spine specialist or primary care physician. (4)
Your La Grande chiropractor at Paulette Hugulet, DC, LLC is well-prepared
to be the La Grande non-surgical spine specialist this article describes
for our La Grande low back pain and neck pain and arm pain and leg pain
sufferers!
CLINICAL OUTCOMES OF TREATMENT
Of 609 patients with sciatica and back-related leg pain
visiting primary care physicians, only 55% reported ‘improvement’
– just 30% or more decrease in disability - at one year follow-up. (5)
Chiropractors using the Cox® Technic System of Spinal Pain Management seek at minimum a 50% decrease of pain non-surgically
in 30 days. In a 1000 cases study of Cox® Technic treatment
outcomes, leg pain radicular patients improved significantly more
with Cox® Technic flexion distraction therapy than with physical therapy. (6)
In a study of post-surgical continued back pain patients, 81% of them reported
greater than 50% relief of pain in 11 visits in 49 days (mean). At two your
follow-up, 78.6% of them still had greater than 50% relief of pain.
Mean relief of pain was continued: 71.6% at the end of active
care and 70% at 2-year follow-up. (7) Your La Grande chiropractor delivers
just such relief and knows when to refer if necessary.
CONTACT Paulette Hugulet, DC, LLC
Listen to this PODCAST
with Dr. Byron Folwell on The Back Doctors Podcast with
Dr. Michael Johnson as he describes The Cox® Technic
System of Spinal Pain Management incorporation for reducing
post-surgical continued back pain.
Schedule your La Grande chiropractic
appointment now. Don’t let numbers scare
you. Let them enlighten your path to pain relief. See
you soon!