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

September 05, 2023

Opioid use for pain has been a customary treatment. Its use is a little too common 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. Vancouver Disc Centers would enjoy being the first healthcare provider Vancouver back pain and neck pain patients visit and truly welcome 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 they had surgery. We are 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 had single-level fusion surgeries had 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 greater improvement of post-surgical back pain. The more pre-surgical opioid prescriptions a patient used was a predictor for poorer surgical outcomes including lower 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 involved in the case, a greater 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 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 vexing. Some got back the medical model and receive new pain medication prescriptions or extended prescriptions for the post-surgery meds. Others seek 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) stated that of the 59 participants in the study, 11 came into the study utilizing 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 rely on medications may be possible]. Vancouver Disc Centers is Vancouver’s post-surgical back pain provider to visit for Cox® Technic treatment.

CONTACT Vancouver Disc Centers

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 Vancouver chiropractic appointment now. If you’ve undergone back surgery - now using pain meds, opioids, or not - we are looking to working with you.

Vancouver chiropractic care to ease pain after back surgery and potentially patient choice to use opioids