Prescriptions of Opioids Pre and Post Back Surgery for Plainville Back Pain, Chiropractic Care May Reduce Rxs and Pain

Opioid use for pain has been a customary treatment. Its use is a little too common as medicine today is even attempting to scale back on 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 supported, many back pain sufferers find themselves with opioid prescriptions from their healthcare providers. Layden Chiropractic would enjoy being the first healthcare provider Plainville 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 are have the skills 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 considered 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 increased improvement of post-surgical back pain. The more pre-surgical opioid prescriptions a patient had was a predictor for poorer surgical outcomes including lower 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, an increased improvement in leg pain VAS scores was noted. (1) Chiropractic is a profession of nonoperative spine providers! We chiropractors are prepared and well-trained to help control 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 and find that they have the same pain in the back area that  the surgery was supposed to fix, the return of pain can be frustrating. Some return to the medical model and receive 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 participants in the study, 11 came into the study using opioid medications. Eight of them self-reported that they lowered or discontinued their use. Three said they continued their use. (2) This holds hope for many post-surgical continued pain patients that pain relief enough to not have to rely on medications may be possible]. Layden Chiropractic is Plainville’s post-surgical back pain provider to consult for Cox® Technic treatment.

CONTACT Layden Chiropractic

Listen to this PODCAST with Dr. Marc Baker on The Back Doctors Podcast with Dr. Michael Johnson as he describes 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 Plainville chiropractic appointment soon. If you have undergone back surgery, currently take pain meds, opioids, or not, we look forward to seeing and helping you.

Plainville chiropractic care to reduce pain after back surgery and potentially patient choice to use opioids 
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