Yorkville Chiropractic and Wellness Centre Understands How Images Help a Back Pain Patient

“Seeing is believing.” Ever heard that saying before? Yorkville Chiropractic and Wellness Centre bets you have. Yorkville Chiropractic and Wellness Centre knows that Toronto back pain patients often want to see the cause of their pain. (They believe they have pain by now!) Today, imaging does not always satisfy a patient’s desire to see the cause if it’s due to an issue like chemical irritation when disc material leaks out to a nerve root, so imaging can only go so far in meeting a patient’s desire to see the cause. But Toronto back pain patients can believe that their Toronto chiropractor will thoroughly explain to them the cause of their pain…and set a treatment plan to alleviate that pain.

THE GOOD OF IMAGING

Today’s imaging recommendations are all about reducing imaging exposure and cost. The concern of radiation exposure is being dealt with by carefully examining low back pain patients for more specific findings, reducing radiation dose and doing more MRI than CT. These efforts in turn reduce the cost of imaging. (1) Recommendations today are to no do imaging for 6-8 weeks of conservative treatment. Yorkville Chiropractic and Wellness Centre has followed the Cox Technic System of Spinal Pain Management which suggests holding off on imaging (in the absence of "red flags" which a thorough clinical examination finds) for a month during which time 50% improvement is sought. If a month goes by without such improvement, imaging is ordered. These are positive scenarios for Toronto back pain patients and their healthcare providers like your Toronto chiropractor typically.

BACK PAIN SUFFERERS WANT TO “SEE”

Other times (and Yorkville Chiropractic and Wellness Centre totally gets this!) patients want to “see” their diagnosis. Words and descriptions and drawings are one thing while imaging is much more personal. When it comes to non-specific back pain, there is an extra layer of curiosity as it’s “non-specific” and doesn’t always have a glaring cause for the pain. The public and patients believe imaging helps diagnose the back pain condition. They are not alone as some healthcare professionals do, too. (2) That’s probably why patients and their healthcare providers like MRI and xrays.

MEDICINE AND SPINAL IMAGING

Interestingly, for years, medicine downplayed the idea of imaging for spine problems. Today, medicine is more and more interested in it. For cervical spine myelopathy, for example, treating physicians rely on imaging to determine the severity of it. Specifically, a group of researchers looked at the possibility of how imaging helped see the relationship between lumbopelvic alignment and cervical alignment and resulting cervical spine myelopathy severity. (3) Imaging has its positives. Your Toronto back pain specialist at Yorkville Chiropractic and Wellness Centre wants to be sure imaging is appropriate to the treatment plan for our back pain patients’ final recovery and pain relief. We know that “seeing is believing” and respect what imaging brings to the treatment plan when needed.

CONTACT Yorkville Chiropractic and Wellness Centre

Listen to this PODCAST with Dr. Dan Clark on The Back Doctors Podcast with Dr. Michael Johnson as he describes how useful imaging can be for a patient’s treatment plan and final outcome of care.

Schedule your Toronto chiropractic appointment at Yorkville Chiropractic and Wellness Centre to more fully comprehend your back pain and its relieving treatment plan whether you can see its source or not because you definitely already believe you have pain. Yorkville Chiropractic and Wellness Centre believes in its relief. You can, too.