Prescriptions of Opioids Pre and Post Back Surgery for Minster Back Pain, Chiropractic Care May Reduce Rxs and Pain
The use of opioid pain medication for pain has been a familiar treatment. Its use is a little too common as medicine today is even attempting to slow its prescription. For back surgery patients, it has been quite common, both before and/or after back surgery. Though today the use of opioids is being less encouraged, many back pain sufferers find themselves with opioid prescriptions from their healthcare providers. Minster Chiropractic Center would love to be the first healthcare provider Minster back pain and neck pain patients visit and truly embrace the opportunity to take care of 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 they had surgery. We are ready to help.
BACK SURGERY OUTCOME PREDICTORS: # of Rx Prescribers and # of Rx Prescriptions
Very few hurry into back surgery. Back pain sufferers often look for relief from various healthcare providers before surgery is contemplated and/or scheduled. 66.9% of patients in a retrospective study of patients who underwent single-level fusion surgeries employed one or less opioid prescription prescribers before surgery while 33.1% employed more than one opioid prescribers. The more pre-surgical opioid prescribers in a back surgery patient’s case was a predictor of greater improvement of post-surgical back pain. The more pre-surgical opioid prescriptions a patient had was a predictor for poorer surgical outcomes including worse 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 ready and well-trained to help contrain 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 got the same pain in the back area that the surgery was supposed to relieve, the return of pain can be vexing. Some return to 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) stated that of the 59 participants in the study, 11 came into the study using opioid medications. Eight of them self-reported that they reduced or discontinued 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. Minster Chiropractic Center is Minster’s post-surgical back pain provider to see for Cox® Technic treatment.
CONTACT Minster Chiropractic Center
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.
Make your Minster chiropractic appointment now. If you’ve had back surgery - now taking pain meds, opioids, or not - we are looking to seeing and helping you.
