Prescriptions of Opioids Pre and Post Back Surgery for Toronto 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 trying 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. Yorkville Chiropractic and Wellness Centre would love to be the first healthcare provider Toronto back pain and neck pain patients see and truly welcome 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 prepared 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 retained one or less opioid prescription prescribers before surgery while 33.1% retained 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 attention-getting and seemingly side note to the study was that if a nonoperative spine provider was involved in the case, a higher improvement in leg pain VAS scores was noted. (1) Chiropractic is a profession of nonoperative spine providers! We chiropractors are ready and well-trained to help control back pain before and after surgery and give patients an opportunity to reduce their opioid use for pain management.
CHIROPRACTIC POST-SURGICAL CARE AND OPIOID USE
For patients who underwent 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 return to the medical model and get new pain medication prescriptions or extended prescriptions for the post-surgery meds. Others turn to chiropractic care. A new study of such patients who turned to 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 came into the study with opioid medications. Eight of them self-reported that they reduced 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 depend on medications may be possible]. Yorkville Chiropractic and Wellness Centre is Toronto’s post-surgical back pain provider to see for Cox® Technic treatment.
CONTACT Yorkville Chiropractic and Wellness Centre
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.
Make your Toronto chiropractic appointment today. If you’ve had back surgery - currently taking pain meds, opioids, or not - we are looking to seeing and helping you.
