Baton Rouge 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 do for back pain patients who visit the ER for help. It’s a dilemma for them, especially since almost 3 million such patients with undifferentiated musculoskeletal low back pain go to the emergency room for help each year! (1) Unless there is cauda equina syndrome demanding surgery or an infection, pain is the issue. How best can a Baton Rouge ER doc help? How can an ER doctor provide higher value care? (2) Imaging and medication. What can the Baton Rouge chiropractic back pain specialist offer? Spinal manipulation and nutrients. Chiropractic has published about successfully managing back pain.

EMERGENCY ROOM: IMAGING

The ER orders plenty of imaging. One in 3 patients who go to the emergency department for back pain (compared 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 recommendations don’t support this as they recommend holding off on imaging for 4-6 weeks of conservative care before imaging. (4) Maybe patients are letting the ER doctors know that they have been under such care already? Not likely since only 34% of patients who go to an ER tell 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 offer. Researchers have studied a variety of pain medication combinations ER doctors have prescribed to see what is effective. What have they found? Stronger pain medication options don’t offer much of a difference. Adding baclofen, metaxalone, or tizanidine to ibuprofen does not seem to enhance function or pain any more than placebo plus ibuprofen by 1 week after an ED visit for acute low back pain. (6,7) Combining ibuprofen and acetaminophen didn’t decrease 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 emergency department physicians and their patients but not typically for chiropractors and their chiropractic back pain patients. The Baton Rouge chiropractic back pain specialist at Spine & Sports Rehab Center is armed with the best of chiropractic care for Baton Rouge back pain relief.

CHIROPRACTIC: MANIPULATION AND NUTRIENTS

Your Baton Rouge 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 Baton Rouge chiropractor’s confidence that back pain relief and management for many otherwise frustrated Baton Rouge back pain patients is promising.

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

CONTACT Spine & Sports Rehab Center

Schedule a Baton Rouge chiropractic appointment with Spine & Sports Rehab Center especially if an emergency department trip hasn’t resulted in the pain relief you hoped. Baton Rouge chiropractic care has figured out a well-documented and researched way to manage back pain.