More than 3 million Americans are diagnosed with some form of chronic low back pain each year. This ambiguous condition has a number of causes and catalysts, and continues to trend in what some chiropractors are classifying as an “epidemic.”
To help combat against the growing number of ongoing back pain cases, the American Chiropractic Association (ACA) has announced clinical guidelines for low back pain treatment. These guidelines have been adopted from the American College of Physicians (ACP) and the Council on Chiropractic Guidelines and Practice Parameters (CCGPP).
This new clinical approach urges chiropractors and other caregivers to assess and interpret low back pain on a patient-by-patient basis. It also pushes for the use of evidence-based best practices for adjustment.
For chiropractors engaging in the Chiropractic BioPhysics (CBP) approach to qualifying and treating lower back pain, these clinical guidelines are nothing new. At Ideal Spine Health Center, we take pride in always customizing our approach to treatment. Our Boise, ID patients are assessed individually and, through CBP, given tailored adjustment plans to ensure their low back pain is being thoroughly addressed.
Keeping opioids off the table
One of the core components of the ACA’s new low back pain treatment guidelines is to fully explore non-invasive, non-drug treatments first. The logic behind this is simple: keep opioids out of the conversation. As nationwide opioid abuse rises in tandem with the low back pain epidemic, it’s all chiropractors can do to stifle the correlation between the two.
Relying on observation and analysis
The need for patient assessment is thoroughly stressed in the new ACA guidelines as well. The guidelines tout the importance of assessment as a tool for administering care – specifically range of motion testing, reevaluation and reexamining post-adjustment, and outcome measurement. These emphases fall directly in line with CBP approaches to consultation, in that they quantify and qualify individual patients to contextualize conditions and results.
Using proven adjustment and relief techniques
Perhaps most important to recognize in the ACA guidelines for low back pain treatment is reliance on proven techniques. For many chiropractors, this level of standardization is nothing new. For patients, however, it serves to legitimize chiropractic in a more clinical way.
Take equipment like a drop table or a practice like traction, for example. For an outsider looking in, these adjustment and treatment methods may seem radical. They’re commonplace in a chiropractic setting and proven adjustment methodologies. Too many chiropractors shy away from them, however, due to the stigma of driving patients away. They’re replaced with treatment methods that may be less intimidating for the patient, yet also less effective.
With ACA guidelines pushing for efficacy over aesthetics, it’s a grounding move towards normalizing proven chiropractic approaches.
Approaching the point of CBP
While the new ACA clinical guidelines for low back treatment are absolutely a step in the right direction, Chiropractic BioPhysics (CBP) is still the trusted modality at Ideal Spine Health Center. Not only does it incorporate all of the positives of clinical chiropractic, it leverages the quantitative powers of geometry, physics, and mechanics. As a result, we’re able to provide Boise, ID low back pain sufferers with an even more complete approach to treatment.
Contact us to schedule your free consultation and see for yourself the potential that a CBP approach can have.
Chiropractic BioPhysics, or CBP, is one of the most scientific, researched, and results-oriented corrective care techniques. CBP-trained chiropractors aim to realign the spine back to health, eliminating nerve interference and addressing the source of pain, fatigue, and disease. As with all chiropractic care, CBP is gentle, painless, and non-invasive.