Colorado Springs Chiropractic Care Instead of an Emergency Room Visit and Pain Meds for Back Pain

Emergency room physicians are trying to figure out what is best to offer back pain patients who choose the ER for help. It’s a dilemma for them, especially since nearly 3 million such patients with undifferentiated musculoskeletal low back pain visit the emergency room for help annually! (1) Unless there is cauda equina syndrome demanding surgery or an infection, pain is the issue. How best can a Colorado Springs ER doc help? How can an ER doctor provide higher value care? (2) Imaging and medication. What can the Colorado Springs chiropractic back pain specialist offer? Spinal manipulation and nutrients. Chiropractic has published about successful management of back pain.

EMERGENCY ROOM: IMAGING

The ER does lots of imaging. One in 3 patients who go to the emergency room for back pain (as opposed to 1 in 4 who go to a primary care physician) has imaging ordered: simple imaging 26%, complex imaging 8.2%. (3) Today’s imaging guidelines do not support this as they recommend holding off on imaging for 4-6 weeks of conservative care before imaging. (4) Maybe patients are telling ER doctors that they have been using such care already? Not likely as only 34% of patients who visit an ER share with the emergency department physician that they use healthcare options like chiropractors, massage therapy, acupuncture and the like. (5) What about the pain?

EMERGENCY ROOM: MEDICATIONS

Pain relief, it seems, is what they can do. Researchers have studied a variety of pain medication combinations ER doctors have used to figure out what is effective. What have they discovered? Stronger pain medication options do not offer much of a difference. Adding baclofen, metaxalone, or tizanidine to ibuprofen does not seem to up function or pain any more than placebo plus ibuprofen within a week after an ED visit for acute low back pain. (6,7) Mixing ibuprofen and acetaminophen did not reduce pain scores or the need for other analgesic pain meds compared with either ibuprofen or acetaminophen alone in emergency room patients with acute musculoskeletal injuries. (8) As a matter of fact, 48% of back pain patients who visit an emergency room for their back pain still had functional impairment 3 months later as well as 42% said they had moderate or severe pain. 46% report using some type of analgesic pain reliever in the day prior. There are short and long-term problems for ER patients with low back pain. (1) This may all be frustrating for ER physicians and their patients but not always for chiropractors and their chiropractic back pain patients. The Colorado Springs chiropractic back pain specialist at The Chiropractic TRUhealthDR is prepared with the best of chiropractic care for Colorado Springs back pain relief.

CHIROPRACTIC: MANIPULATION AND NUTRIENTS

Your Colorado Springs chiropractor understands. Experience with chiropractic spinal manipulation via The Cox® Technic System of Spinal Pain Management with the addition of nutrition like chondroitin sulfate, glucosamine sulfate and curcurmin and turmeric supports your Colorado Springs chiropractor’s confidence that back pain relief and management for many otherwise frustrated Colorado Springs back pain patients is promising.

Listen to this PODCAST with Dr. Michael Schneider on The Back Doctors Podcast with Dr. Michael Johnson who shares the goal of the primary spine physician who would be the physician to turn to for back pain issues.

CONTACT The Chiropractic TRUhealthDR

Schedule a Colorado Springs chiropractic appointment with The Chiropractic TRUhealthDR especially if an emergency department visit has not resulted in the pain relief you hoped. Colorado Springs chiropractic care has shared a well-documented and researched way to manage back pain.