Opioids. Back Pain. Treatment Options. Chiropractic has a place
in managing and relieving pain that should not be overlooked.
Primary care physicians aren’t very confident in treating
musculoskeletal pain. (1) Family practitioners are the leading
prescribers of opioids. (2) Meanwhile, who treats 40% of
pain patients? Chiropractors! (1) Your Ottawa chiropractor at The practice of Dr. Tim Schneider
takes care of many pain patients and relieves a great deal of Ottawa back pain often exclusive of opioids.
STATISTICS ON OPIOIDS FOR PAIN
These statistics are founded
on a large study of 478,981 freshly diagnosed, “opiate-naïve”
patients who begin taking opiates for pain relief. (2)
- 40.4% of pain patients obtained
opioid prescriptions originally inside
the first year of pain while only 4% met the requirement for
long-term use.
- Family practice doctors are the most usual
first prescribers of opiates for pain whose risk of prescribing these early in
the pain process is 24.4% while those patients then have a 2% risk of long-term,
continued opiate use.
- Patients who look for care from emergency
medicine doctors (43.1%) or urgent care facility (40.8%) are most
certainly to be prescribed opiates early in their pain cycle.
- Patients diagnosed first by a pain
management doctor or physical medicine and rehab provider have an increased risk of long-term opioid use by 6.7% and 3.4%, respectively.
The practice of Dr. Tim Schneider welcomes pain patients to seek
Ottawa chiropractic care sooner than later!
PHYSICIANS WHO TREAT PAIN
Primary care physicians (52%), pain physicians (2%),
chiropractors (40%), acupuncturists (7%) treat
chronic pain patients. Primary care physicians are the least probable
physicians to feel confident managing musculoskeletal and neuropathic
pain. (1) Chiropractors like yours at The practice of Dr. Tim Schneider confidently use
non-drug management and/or co-management with other providers for the pain relief and pain control for Ottawa back
pain patients.
CHIROPRACTIC’S PLACE IN PAIN CARE
The practice of Dr. Tim Schneider speculates why
chiropractors are not more readily thought of
in the process for Ottawa pain relief, particularly
Ottawa back pain relief. Chiropractic services intergrate
spinal manipulation (one of the highest recommended forms
of care for back pain by the American Pain Society and the American College of
Physicians (3)), exercise, and nutrition. What stops some
medical doctors from considering nutrition? A recent article states the reason
in its title: “Nutrition: Push For Doctors To Learn Nutrition: Many Graduate
Without Training.” It also notes that patients think
their medical doctor knows about nutrition. (4) And that is fine if
healthcare professionals collaborated along their
lines of expertise, acknowledging that each
has a role in the care of the pain patient and has the best interest
of the patient at heart. Chiropractors have expertise in non-surgical and non-drug care of pain, back
pain, and spine pain.
COORDINATING CARE
Knowing that a healthcare provider’s
profession influences his/her treatment recommendations,
guidelines for Ottawa back pain patient care are established
to try to use the expertise maximally.
Interdisciplinary care challenges differences among professions and their
recommendation standards so that a patient gets a consistent
therapy message with up-to-date treatment guidelines. Activity messages
do vary by profession though: nurses were more restrictive in
their recommendations of activity; physicians were more consistent
with guidelines; physiotherapists recommended much more activity but less work
activity than physicians. (5) The practice of Dr. Tim Schneider collaborates with other
local Ottawa healthcare providers for patient care, appreciating
their expertise and contribution to Ottawa
back pain patients’ return to activities that they like to do.
CONTACT The practice of Dr. Tim Schneider
Schedule a Ottawa chiropractic appointment with
The practice of Dr. Tim Schneider for interdisciplinary care of your pain. Your
Ottawa chiropractor is willing and able to
work with fellow Ottawa healthcare providers and to share
with you options on managing your back pain beyond and/or
alongside opioid drug care.