“Doc, must I see you for a long time?”
“Not necessarily, but you might well want
to!”
Researchers are documenting the
support for chiropractic care in the shorter and longer
term also known as maintenance care. Advantages include
pain relief and return of function in the short term and continued
pain relief, prolonged function, and enhanced
confidence in performing activities of daily living.
Paulette Hugulet, DC, LLC trusts our La Grande chiropractic patients to make
the best decision for their condition as they know themselves and their
bodies best.
CHIROPRACTIC RELIEF: TIME, VISITS AND WORSE PAIN, FUNCTION
RETURN
A RAND Human Subjects Protection Committee-approved study of
chronic back pain (1362) and chronic neck pain (1214) patients analyzed
how quickly they got better with chiropractic care and how much
functional improvement they experienced. These
patients were documented as suffering with mild pain for
the most part. Back and neck pain decreased, and function improved
gradually over three months of chiropractic care. When frequency of
chiropractic visits was blended into the analysis,
those with the worst pain went
for more visits. Only visits more
than once a week for chronic low back pain patients impacted the outcome
toward greater
improvement. (1) Studies like this can assist patients with their
expectations and payers with their treatment plan decision-making for coverage.
Paulette Hugulet, DC, LLC is so glad to see these
types of studies published to present to our
La Grande back pain patients.
TREATMENT PLANNING FOR BACK PAIN RELIEF: Chiropractic Maintenance
Care
Not all back pain patients are the same. La Grande back pain has all
types of influences: social, biological, psychological, too. A study of
back pain patients’ response to chiropractic care alone versus
multidisciplinary care uncovered a relatively small difference in
outcome which seems logical since adding
ancillary care helps. (2) Same with continued
chiropractic care. Patients who followed maintenance care
recommendations reported fewer pain days and fewer activity-limited
days. (3) Back pain patients who adhered to
recommendations for maintenance care valued its being patient-centered. Cost,
low availability, and fear of treatment were factors they thought prevented them from following recommended maintenance
care. (4) One patient with a 13-year history of chiropractic once a
month maintenance care including cervical
spine long-y distraction for cervical radiculopathy and associated
retrolisthesis (backward slipping of one spinal vertebral bone on its spinal
neighbors) kept the patient
asymptomatic, sustained the spine functioning as best as
possible, and produced a gradual decrease
in the cervical spine retrolisthesis. Older neck pain patients who underwent
long-term chiropractic care and exercise for neck pain experienced
greater improvement in pain, function, balance, and self-efficacy (confidence
in doing daily activities and such). Chiropractic care was considered
to positively impact pain and manage symptoms while
exercise boosted self-efficacy and confidence to be able to keep active and mobile and in being able to
self-manage their condition. (6) Paulette Hugulet, DC, LLC carefully designs
a treatment plan for each individual patient for optimal
outcomes for each.
CONTACT Paulette Hugulet, DC, LLC
Listen to the PODCAST
with Dr. Robert Borzone on the
Back Doctors Podcast with Dr. Michael Johnson as he
shares the benefit of continued chiropractic
care with the Cox® Technic System of Spinal Pain Management for his patient
with a disc herniation.
Schedule your next La Grande chiropractic
appointment with Paulette Hugulet, DC, LLC. Our back pain and neck pain patients don’t have to see us, but many choose to because they feel
good and want to stay that way.