Call us to set up an appointment! 541-963-9355

La Grande Chiropractic and Back Pain Relief Expectations via Surgical or Conservative Care

What expectations do you have of your La Grande chiropractic care of back pain? That question is huge. Research reports that it plays a role in back pain treatment outcome whether that treatment is surgical or conservative. Paulette Hugulet, DC, LLC aspires to hear your expectations of our La Grande back pain treatment and share what our treatment’s outcomes have been in practice and in research.

INFLUENTIAL EXPECTATIONS FOR BACK SURGERY OUTCOMES

A recent research project scrutinized patient and surgeon expectations of back surgery. Patients expected complete relief and improvement of their back pain after lumbar spine surgery. Surgeons expected improvement that ranged from a little to a lot dependant on the patient and his/her specific condition. Can you guess whose expectations were met? The surgeons’ expectations. Two years after the back surgery, the patient-reported outcomes met the surgeon’s expectations. The researchers emphasized that effective communication about expectations may well further better outcomes. (1) That is why Paulette Hugulet, DC, LLC spends time with each La Grande back pain patient early on in care, ensuring that the source of pain and its treatment plan are well-described. If not, ask us!

AN ACCEPTABLE SYMPTOM STATE

If a patient doesn’t experience the relief he/she wanted from back surgery, what is an “acceptable symptom state” for that back pain patient? What can he/she live with? For patients with chronic non-specific low back pain (with or without active discopathy), 54% stated having an acceptable symptom state at 1 month of care. Specifically, patient-reported acceptable symptoms involved these: 47.5 for lumbar pain, 30.5 for radicular pain, 39.3 for disability, 10.0 for anxiety, and 6.7 for depression. (2) Paulette Hugulet, DC, LLC realizes no pain is the preferred state and is prepared to talk with our La Grande chiropractic patients their options and possible outcomes.

DECIDING ON TREATMENT OPTIONS

The question of back surgery is a big issue. Evidence-based medicine sees that the patient at the center of care. What is the patient perspective of this care? How is the patient perspective taken into consideration in treatment planning and decision making among available options? A new paper indicated that the patient’s social, psychological, and other non-clinical characteristics must be considered in planning care. (3) One factor in the back-surgery decision that reportedly influences the decision and the outcome expectation is opioid use. Lower dose and shorter-time-taking opioid use patients expected more complete improvement compared with non-users. They also had higher expectations of positive outcome than higher-dose opioid patients. (4) For a lot of patients, the prospect of work is goal of back pain treatment which is affirming according to a new report on how back pain patient recovery expectations affect clinical outcomes. A review of 60 studies found that a patient’s recovery expectations are probably strongly associated with future work participation. (5) Paulette Hugulet, DC, LLC uses effective, nonsurgical care of back pain to meet patient expectations once the research on outcomes for other back pain sufferers is presented and absorbed. La Grande chiropractic care keeps the back pain patient at its center.

CONTACT Paulette Hugulet, DC, LLC

Listen to this PODCAST with Dr. Anthony Galante on The Back Doctors Podcast with Dr. Michael Johnson as he explained how Cox® Technic System of Spinal Pain Management and chiropractic treatment assisted in the management of back pain for a patient who was adamant about not wanting back surgery.

Schedule your next La Grande chiropractic visit soon. Paulette Hugulet, DC, LLC invites you to ponder and answer the question of your expectations for our treatment so that we can both be satisfied with the outcome!

 
Paulette Hugulet, DC, LLC strives to meet realistic patient expectations when it comes to conservative back pain relief. 
« View All Featured Articles
"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."