Chiropractic Solutions Offers Options to Opioids for Pain Relief

Opioids. Back Pain. Treatment Options. Chiropractic has a role in managing and relieving pain that should not be overlooked. Primary care physicians do not feel much confidence treating musculoskeletal pain. (1) Family practitioners are the leading prescribers of opioids. (2) Meanwhile, who treats 40% of pain patients? Chiropractors! (1) Your San Jose chiropractor at Chiropractic Solutions sees many pain patients and relieves a great deal of San Jose back pain often with no opioids.

STATISTICS ON OPIOIDS FOR PAIN

These statistics are based on a huge study of 478,981 recently diagnosed, “opiate-naïve” patients who begin utilizing opiates for pain relief. (2)

• 40.4% of pain patients obtained opioid prescriptions initially within a year of pain while only 4% met the requirement for long-term use.
• Family practice doctors are the most common 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 likely to be prescribed opiates early in their pain cycle.
• Patients diagnosed initially 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.

Chiropractic Solutions invites pain patients to seek San Jose chiropractic care first!

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 likely physicians to feel confident treating musculoskeletal and neuropathic pain. (1) Chiropractors like yours at Chiropractic Solutions confidently use non-drug management and/or co-management with other healthcare personnel for the pain relief and pain control for San Jose back pain patients.

CHIROPRACTIC’S PLACE IN PAIN CARE

Chiropractic Solutions wonders why chiropractors are not more readily considered in the process for San Jose pain relief, particularly San Jose 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 prevents 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 shares that patients believe their medical doctor understands nutrition. (4) And that’s fine if healthcare professionals collaborated sharing their expertise, recognizing that each has a role in the care of the pain patient and has the best welfare of the patient fundamentally. Chiropractors are well skilled 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 San Jose back pain patient care are established to try to utilize the expertise fully. Interdisciplinary care challenges differences among professions and their recommendation standards so that a patient receives a consistent therapy message with up-to-date treatment guidelines. Activity messages do differ by profession though: nurses were more restrictive in their recommendations of activity; physicians were more in line with guidelines; physiotherapists recommended much more activity but less work activity than physicians. (5) Chiropractic Solutions works with other local San Jose healthcare providers for patient care, valuing their expertise and involvement in San Jose back pain patients’ return to activities that they like to do.

CONTACT Chiropractic Solutions

Schedule a San Jose chiropractic appointment with Chiropractic Solutions for interdisciplinary care of your pain. Your San Jose chiropractor is ready and willing to work with fellow San Jose healthcare providers and to offer you options on how to manage your back pain beyond and/or alongside opioid drug care.