Johnson Chiropractic Offers Realistic Back Pain Relief Expectations
Let us be honest. You want 100% relief of your Richmond back pain and have it never return. Heck, you didn’t want it to occur in the first place! Well, Johnson Chiropractic desires that for you, too. But reality intervenes. The research gets published. Realistic expectations are documented. Documented treatment outcomes lead you and Johnson Chiropractic as we move together toward healing and improved quality of life with back pain.
MEDICAL CLINICAL EXPECTATION
Medicine today reports 30% minimal clinical improvement as good enough to warrant the use of a treatment approach. (1) The “minimal clinically important difference” is an indicator of the effectiveness of treatment. In an extensive review of studies, the relative percent was found to be 32%. (2) “Good” outcome of medical primary care for sciatica and leg pain was only 30% reduction in disability. 55% of patients were improved at one year. (1) Another set of researchers reported that a 20 point move on a 100 point scale is a good outcome. A change of 19% on an Oswestry pain scale and 2 points on a 10 points visual analogue scale is thought to be successful reduction in pain for a patient with continued postoperative spine pain. (3) Johnson Chiropractic knows Richmond back pain patients want more relief than that. Establishing realistic expectations from the start of treatment boosts the odds of a satisfactory outcome for our Richmond chiropractic patients.
CHIROPRACTIC ROLE IN BACK PAIN RELIEF
Chiropractic is often grouped with alternative medicine. Chiropractic seeks to address the source of spine-related pain with spine treatment, exercise, nutrition, etc., whereas allopathic medicine seeks to remove the offending cause of pain by drug or invasive methods. (4) One study comparing the two approaches demonstrated that at 2 months of care, older adults with lumbar spine stenosis treated with manual therapy and exercise improved better than medical care and group exercise. (5) Another paper about older adults with back pain stated 50% improvement in back pain and 43% in disability after 2 years of care. The honest truth: fewer than 20% of these patients had complete resolution of pain and disability, but they were better. (6) Johnson Chiropractic helps many Richmond back pain and stenosis patients honestly set realistic expectations for clinical improvement of their back pain conditions utilizing the Cox® Technic System of Spinal Pain Management.
CLINICAL OUTCOMES WITH COX® TECHNIC
Cox® Technic has always sought at least 50% relief within 30 days before trying another treatment protocol or arranging appointments for more advanced imaging tests or referral for surgical consultation (as long as there is no evidence of progressive neurological deficit or caudal equina syndrome/change in bowel or urinary function which would necessitate a more immediate action). (7) For years, 50% did not seem like enough. Today, it is amazing relief compared with the new medical and surgical expectation of 20% to 30% relief. One more recent study reports even more relief with Cox® Technic: Spinal stenosis patients improved in pain by 76% and disability by 73%. (8) How might such improvement come? Horizontal traction was shown much more effective in increasing disc height of lower lumbar discs. (9) Cox® Technic distraction manipulation was found to enlarge the area by 28%. (10) Johnson Chiropractic has cared for many Richmond back pain patients whose 20% relief of pain excited them as it permitted them to walk in the park or go to the grocery store or play with the grandkids.
Listen to this PODCAST with Dr. Wanda Lopez on The Back Doctors Podcast with Dr. Michael Johnson whose patient was elated that she could take a walk in Central Park without pain.
CONTACT Johnson Chiropractic
Schedule your next chiropractic appointment at Johnson Chiropractic today. We’ll be honest. We’ll discuss treatment outcome expectations with you. Johnson Chiropractic is on your side and committed to helping you get the Richmond back pain relief you want.
