Chiropractic Health Care month in Illinois

 October, 2021 has been designated as Chiropractic Health Care Month in Illinois. Every year two million Illinois residents visit chiropractic practices. 

LEGISLATION PASSED ADDING CHIROPRACTIC TO MEDICAID

 Illinois coverage for chiropractic care was discontinued eight years ago. Recently a bill containing a provision to re-instate chiropractic coverage to Illinois the Illinois Medicaid program as been passed and is expected to be signed by the governor. A plan will now be formulated by the Health and Family Services to be sent for federal approval.

LEGISLATION PASSED ADDING CHIROPRACTIC TO MEDICAID

Muscle Relaxants vs. Manipulations for LBP

 Newer better studies show that relaxant drugs have no good evidence of effectiveness for low back pain, while having possible significant

adverse effects especially for people operating machinery. Multiple clinical trials have found that skeletal muscle relaxants are associated with 50 percent more total adverse events and 104 percent more central nervous system adverse events than placebo.

A recent randomized controlled trial showed that spinal manipulation as commonly practiced by doctors of chiropractic had significantly more effect on pain reduction that muscle relaxants or placebo.

Muscle Relaxants vs. Manipulations for LBP

Chiropractic Care Significantly Reduces Risk of Opioid Prescribing

Study from the March issue of Pain Medicine Journal using claim data from three states found that patients with spinal pain who saw a chiropractor had half the risk of filling an opioid prescription.
Impact of Chiropractic Care on Use of Prescription Opioids in Patients with Spinal Pain

U.S. Physician Recommendations to Their Patients About the Use of Complementary Health Approaches

The National Ambulatory Medical Care Survey showed that spinal/ osteopathic manipulation was the was the most common recommended complementary health approach by family and other primary physicians.
Would you be surprised to know that I have received patient referrals from well over 100 medical physicians of many specialities?
U.S. Physician Recommendations to Their Patients About the Use of Complementary Health Approaches

Expanding the VA Chiropractic Residency

The Veteran's Administration has operated a chiropractic residency program at five VA hospitals since 2016. They are now expanding the program to five more hospitals. This will give these DC's skills to practice in hospital and other medical settings.
Do you see benefit in chiropractors treating patients in the hospital?
https://www.dynamicchiropractic.com/mpacms/dc/article.php…Expanding the VA Chiropractic Residency

More Payers Backing Chiropractic Care in 2020

This article from a website for the managed care industry states that many insurance plans including the military plan Tricare will be increasing coverage for chiropractic care after many studies now showing it reduces costs, reduces surgeries, and reduces opioid prescriptions.
Are you so surprised that this has taken so long?
Chiropractic care is becoming a method more recognized as a way to better treat patients and avoid pharmacological pain management methods.

More Payers Backing Chiropractic Care in 2020

Cost-Efficiency and Effectiveness of Including Doctors of Chiropractic to Offer Treatment Under Medicaid: A Critical Appraisal of Missouri Inclusion of Chiropractic Under Missouri Medicaid.

This is another in what is now a long list of studies showing cost effectiveness of chiropractic care. It looked at the Missouri Medicaid system and estimated adding chiropractic care would annually save the state between $14 and $49 million dollars by providing better outcomes for reduced costs, decrease utilization of surgery, and reduced use and abuse of opioids.
Why do you think some states including Illinois do not cover chiropractic care in their Medicaid programs?
Cost-Efficiency and Effectiveness of Including Doctors of Chiropractic to Offer Treatment Under Medicaid: A Critical Appraisal of Missouri Inclusion of Chiropractic Under Missouri Medicaid.

MRI findings in the lumbar spines of asymptomatic, adolescent, elite tennis players.

I ran across this study on asymptomatic elite tennis players with an average age of 17 years old. The study scanned 33 teenagers and only 5 had normal scans! The scans revealed multiple abnormalities in the rest including disc degeneration, joint arthritis, disc bulges, and stress fractures.
Partly due to studies like this and current imaging guidelines, I now order much less imaging than in the past. Unfortunately many doctors rely too heavily on imaging studies. MRI findings in the lumbar spines of asymptomatic, adolescent, elite tennis players.

Back pain one of leading causes of disability

It is easy for some who have never had a severe or chronic back disorder to think it is not a serious problem, maybe because back disorders do not kill anyone...well at least not directly. The reality is that low back and neck disorders are the 2nd most common cause of disability in the developed countries after ischemic heart disease, according to the Global Burden of Disease Study published in the Lancet.
Does this surprise anyone?How Back Pain Took Over the WorldB

Using chiropractors to reduce lower back pain

Here is a recent video interview of a professor from Logan Chiropractic College. He notes that the average age of the onset of back disorders is 32 and unfortunately the average age to begin chiropactic care is 47. He also mentions the recent study showing that in a chiropractic treatment group there was a 49% reduction in opioid use.
Using chiropractors to reduce lower back pain

Physical Therapy, Chiropractic Back Care Cut Opioid Use, Costs

A recent study in Journal of the American Medical Association Network Open concluded that adding increased chiropractic and physical therapy coverage and other non drug services to insurance plans gave better outcomes, decreased costs, and reduced opioid use.

Physical Therapy, Chiropractic Back Care Cut Opioid Use, Costs

Spinal stenosis is narrowing inside the spine and is a common reason for spinal surgery. Spinal fusion surgery is increasingly be added to the standard decompression surgery, but does not have any evidence of adding benefit to the procedure. At the same time adding the fusion increases the cost, increased recovery time, and increases the rate of infections and complications.
Does this practice sound rational to you?
Benefit of lumbar fusion for spinal stenosis found to be small to nonexistent

3 Times a Chiropractor Can Make You Feel Better—and 9 Things They Cannot Help

Article from Men's Health on chiropractic treatment helping many back conditions, sports injuries, and migraines. No compelling evidence that it helps with non-musculoskeletal conditions. 
Would you agree?
3 Times a Chiropractor Can Make You Feel Better—and 9 Things He Should Never Even Attempt

A New Prescription for Back Pain

Chiropractic is a profession, not a treatment. Although it is most known for spinal manipulation (adjustments), most doctors of chiropractic (DC's) use a variety of treatments including soft tissue manipulation, mobilization, exercise therapy, and sometimes multidisiplinary rehabiliation.

A New Prescription for Back Pain

Do Epidural Steroid Injections Help Lower Back Pain?

This is a recent review study from the Annals of Internal Medicine of 30 previous epidural steroid injection studies. It showed only mild temporay benefit overall and no benefit for spinal stenosis (narrowing of the spine).“ESIs are high cost, low value health care,” said Terri Lewis, Ph.D, who is an expert of rehabilitation medicine.
Do you think it would be rational to use more conservative treatments for these patients such as chiropractic and/or physical therapy?

http://nationalpainreport.com/do-epidural-steroid-injections-help-lower-back-pain-8827256.html

Alternative treatments for chronic pain without opioids

Missouri Governor Mike Parson recently signed a bill allowing chiropractic care to be covered under Medicaid. Research shows that the Medicaid population is prescribed opioids at a disproportionately high rate compared to the general population and those areas where patients have access to chiropractic have decreased opioid prescription rates.
Do you think it would be beneficial for Illiinois to again cover chiropractic care under Medicaid?Alternative treatments for chronic pain without opioids

Lower Back Pain Relief: Treatments That Really Work

A new article in Readers Digest entitled "Lower Back 
Relief Treatments That Really Work" recommends chiropractic care, physical therapy and several other conservative professions and treatments.
Do you think these are good recommendations?
Lower Back Pain Relief: Treatments That Really Work

What Does Research Reveal About Chiropractic Costs?

To date approximately 30 studies have looked at the cost of including chiropractic care and/or spinal manipulative therapy (SMT) within workers’ compensation, other healthcare delivery systems or multi-disciplinary clinics. The available evidence consistently shows that patients with low back and neck pain who are treated by chiropractors have either similar or lower costs than those seeking care from other providers.
Does this surprise anyone?
What Does Research Reveal About Chiropractic Costs?

CHIROPRACTIC CARE & THE OLYMPICS: HOW DCS HELP OLYMPIC ATHLETES REACH PEAK PERFORMANCE

Doctors of chiropractic have been working on US Olympic teams since 1980.
CHIROPRACTIC CARE & THE OLYMPICS: HOW DCS HELP OLYMPIC ATHLETES REACH PEAK PERFORMANCE