Non-Surgical Care Lowers Cost of Vancouver Back Pain

Frustration.  Dissatisfaction. Exasperation.

 

Let’s first look at frustration associated with recurring back pain after a back surgery. Recurrence of a disc herniation after a single level lumbar disc removal 12 months after back surgery that requires further care is 12%. In one study, 11 patients (7%) required revision surgery, whereas 6 (3.9%) responded to conservative therapy alone. Diagnosis and management of recurrent disc herniation were associated with a mean cost of $26,593 per patient. The mean cost was markedly less for patients responding to conservative treatment (just $2315) compared with those back surgery patients requiring revision surgery ($39,836). Researchers followed 141 patients for a year after they underwent a primary lumbar discectomy.  The total cost associated with the management of subsequent recurrent disc herniation was $452,083 ($289,797 per 100 primary discectomies). It was recommended that prolonged conservative management should be attempted when possible to reduce the health care costs of this complication involving a recurrent disc herniation following surgery.  (1) Conservative chiropractic management of disc herniation is Vancouver Disc Centers’s forte! Vancouver chiropractic care at Vancouver Disc Centers is well documented to manage back pain conditions like disc herniation.

Next let’s consider various forms of conservative care used.  A low-cost biopsychosocial rehabilitation regimen following back surgery significantly reduces service utilization compared to the usual regimen and a training exercise regimen. (3) Usual physiotherapy versus intensive group training protocol showed no improved outcome but was more costly. (4) General practitioners who didn’t follow guidelines offered to lower health care costs show an average cost for 12 weeks care to be $20,531. (5) Manual therapy is more effective and cost contained than physiotherapy or medical doctors. Manual therapy as done by chiropractors was easily the least expensive form of care. On average, the total direct costs of treating neck pain with manual therapy for one year were $137-$283 less per patient compared to PT or GP care.  The average total cost of treating a person with neck pain for one year using manual therapy was $514. Treating a patient over the same time with physiotherapy cost $1,492; GP care cost $1,586. (6) Early treatment of acute low back injuries produces fewer days off work and less doctor office visits. (7) Less lumbar fusion shows cost savings as lumbar fusion rates increased from 3.6% in 1996 to 58% in 2001 with the result being increased complication risk without improving disability or reoperation rates. (8) So Vancouver Disc Centers offers its conservative, cost-effective Vancouver chiropractic care to reduce back pain after back surgery and/or as preventive of back surgery when back pain first strikes. 

Vancouver Disc Centers offers chiropractic Cox Technic flexion distraction. It is the second most studied chiropractic adjustment procedure with 12 cited papers. (2)  Its 1000 cases study shows disc herniation patients respond well in an average of 12 visits and 30 days. Vancouver Disc Centers studies and keeps up with the extensive research behind Cox Technic that shows its effects both biomechanically and clinically. The clinical outcomes are what most Vancouver back pain patients care about: “When will I feel better?” and “how long will it take?”

So contact Vancouver Disc Centers for a Vancouver treatment plan that will take the frustration out of your back pain and answer these questions for you, so you feel satisfaction.