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

Opioid use for pain has been a familiar 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 encouraged, many back pain sufferers find themselves with opioid prescriptions from their healthcare providers. Moriarty Chiropractic would love to be the first healthcare provider Nashua back pain and neck pain patients visit and truly embrace 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’re 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 seek care 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% had 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 used was a predictor for poorer surgical outcomes including worse 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 point of the study was that if a nonoperative spine provider was included in the case, a greater improvement in leg pain VAS scores was seen. (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 lower their opioid use for pain management. 

CHIROPRACTIC POST-SURGICAL CARE AND OPIOID USE

For patients who underwent back surgery to find that they got the same pain in the back area that the surgery was supposed to fix, the return of pain can be frustrating. Some got back the medical model and get new pain medication prescriptions or prolonged prescriptions for the post-surgery meds. Others turn to chiropractic care. A recent 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 using opioid medications. Eight of them self-reported that they lowered or quit their use. Three said they maintained their use. (2) This holds hope for many post-surgical continued pain patients that not having to take pain meds as the only means to pain relief may be possible. Moriarty Chiropractic is Nashua’s post-surgical back pain provider to visit for Cox® Technic treatment.

CONTACT Moriarty 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.

Make your Nashua chiropractic appointment today. If you have undergone back surgery - currently taking pain meds, opioids, or not - we are looking to working with you.