Pflugerville Chiropractic and Back Pain Relief Expectations via Surgical or Conservative Care

What do you expect from your Pflugerville chiropractic care of back pain? That is a key question. Research reports that that questions of expectations plays a role in back pain treatment outcome whether that treatment is surgical or conservative. Pflugerville Wellness Center intends to hear your expectations of our Pflugerville back pain treatment and share the outcomes of our treatment documented in practice and in research.

INFLUENTIAL EXPECTATIONS FOR BACK SURGERY OUTCOMES

A recent research project studied patient and surgeon expectations of back surgery. Patients expected full relief and improvement of their back pain after lumbar spine surgery. Surgeons expected improvement that ranged from a little to a lot depending on the patient and his/her specific condition. Can you guess whose expectations were met? The surgeons’ expectations. Two years after the back surgery, the patient-reported outcomes met the surgeon’s expectations. The researchers stressed that effective communication about expectations may well further better outcomes. (1) That’s why Pflugerville Wellness Center spends time with each Pflugerville back pain patient early on in care, ensuring that the source of pain and its treatment plan are well-explained. If not, tell us!

AN ACCEPTABLE SYMPTOM STATE

If a patient does not get the relief he/she desired from back surgery, what is an “acceptable symptom state” for that back pain patient? What can he/she live with? For patients with chronic non-specific low back pain (with or without active discopathy), 54% reported having an acceptable symptom state at 1 month of care. Specifically, patient-reported acceptable symptoms involved these: 47.5 for lumbar pain, 30.5 for radicular pain, 39.3 for disability, 10.0 for anxiety, and 6.7 for depression. (2) Pflugerville Wellness Center appreciates that no pain is the preferred state and is ready to discuss with our Pflugerville chiropractic patients their options and possible outcomes.

DECIDING ON TREATMENT OPTIONS

Deciding whether to have back surgery is a big decision. Evidence-based medicine sees that the patient at the center of care. What is the patient perspective of this care? How is the patient perspective considered in treatment planning and decision making among available options? A recent paper indicated that the patient’s social, psychological, and other non-clinical characteristics must be considered in planning care. (3) One factor in the back-surgery decision that reportedly influences the decision and the outcome expectation is opioid use. Lower dose and shorter-time-taking opioid use patients expected more complete improvement compared with non-users. They also had higher expectations of positive outcome than higher-dose opioid patients. (4) For many patients, the prospect of work is goal of back pain treatment which is encouraging according to this new report on how back pain patient recovery expectations affect clinical outcomes. A review of 60 studies reported that a patient’s recovery expectations are probably strongly associated with future work participation. (5) Pflugerville Wellness Center employs effective, nonsurgical treatment of back pain to meet patient expectations once the research on outcomes for other back pain sufferers is described and understood. Pflugerville chiropractic care keeps the back pain patient at its center.

CONTACT Pflugerville Wellness Center

Check out this PODCAST with Dr. Anthony Galante on The Back Doctors Podcast with Dr. Michael Johnson as he explained how Cox® Technic System of Spinal Pain Management and chiropractic treatment helped manage back pain for a patient who was adamant about not wanting back surgery.

Set your next Pflugerville chiropractic visit soon. Pflugerville Wellness Center invites you to ponder and answer the question of your expectations for our treatment so that we can both be satisfied with the outcome!

 
Pflugerville Wellness Center strives to meet realistic patient expectations regarding conservative back pain relief. 
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"This information and website content is not intended to diagnose, guarantee results, or recommend specific treatment or activity. It is designed to educate and inform only. Please consult your physician for a thorough examination leading to a diagnosis and well-planned treatment strategy. See more details on the DISCLAIMER page. Content is reviewed by Dr. James M. Cox I."