Prescriptions of Opioids Pre and Post Back Surgery for Fort Wayne Back Pain, Chiropractic Care May Reduce Rxs and Pain
Opioid use for pain has been a common treatment. Its use is a little too much so as medicine today is even attempting to scale back on its prescription. For back surgery patients, it’s been quite common, both before and/or after back surgery. Though today the use of opioids is being less supported, many back pain sufferers find themselves with opioid prescriptions from their healthcare providers. Cox Chiropractic Medicine Inc would love to be the first healthcare provider Fort Wayne back pain and neck pain patients visit and truly welcome the opportunity to care for the post-surgical continued pain patients - with or without opioid prescriptions - who come to us with the same or returned pain in the same spinal area where their surgery was. We’re ready to help.
BACK SURGERY OUTCOME PREDICTORS: # of Rx Prescribers and # of Rx Prescriptions
Very few hurry into back surgery. Back pain sufferers often seek care from various healthcare providers before surgery is contemplated and/or scheduled. 66.9% of patients in a retrospective study of patients who experienced single-level fusion surgeries retained one or less opioid prescription prescribers before surgery while 33.1% had more than one opioid prescribers. The more pre-surgical opioid prescribers in a back surgery patient’s case was a predictor of increased improvement of post-surgical back pain. The more pre-surgical opioid prescriptions a patient had was a predictor for poorer surgical outcomes including poorer improvement in back VAS pain scores, leg VAS pain scores, Oswestry Disability Index scores, and for more post-surgical opioid prescriptions, prescribers, and morphine milligram equivalents. An interesting and seemingly side note to the study was that if a nonoperative spine provider was involved in the case, a greater improvement in leg pain VAS scores was seen. (1) Chiropractic is a profession of nonoperative spine providers! We chiropractors are prepared and well-trained to help manage back pain before and after surgery and give patients an opportunity to lower their opioid use for pain management.
CHIROPRACTIC POST-SURGICAL CARE AND OPIOID USE
For patients who went through back surgery to find that they experience back pain in the same area that the surgery was supposed to fix, the return of pain can be vexing. Some got back the medical model and get new pain medication prescriptions or prolonged prescriptions for the post-surgery meds. Others seek chiropractic care. A new study of such patients who sought chiropractic care with chiropractors who are certified in Cox® Technic spinal manipulation (manual spinal decompression manipulation) reported that of the 59 patients in the study, 11 entered the study with opioid medications. Eight of them self-reported that they reduced or quit their use. Three said they maintained their use. (2) This is hopeful for many post-surgical continued pain patients that not having to take pain meds as the only means to pain relief may be possible. Cox Chiropractic Medicine Inc is Fort Wayne’s post-surgical back pain provider to consult for Cox® Technic treatment.
CONTACT Cox Chiropractic Medicine Inc
Listen to this PODCAST with Dr. Marc Baker on The Back Doctors Podcast with Dr. Michael Johnson as he shares his use of The Cox® Technic System of Spinal Pain Management in delivering relief for a military veteran with back pain after back surgery.
Schedule your Fort Wayne chiropractic appointment soon. If you have had back surgery - now take pain meds, opioids, or not - we look forward to seeing and helping you.
