Who Gets Back Surgery As It Turns Out Is Heavily Dependent On Which Type Of Doctor A Person Sees First.

Back injuries are the most common work place injury.

A study looked at the early predictors of low back spine surgery within 3 years among Washington State workers that had recently injured their back at work.

The researchers compared where the injured people got care first… Seeing a Chiropractor or a Back Surgeon.

The results were shocking!

• About 42.7% of workers who saw a surgeon 1st had surgery.
• Only 1.5% of those who saw a doctor of chiropractic had back surgery!
• Here are the conclusions of the researchers… There was a very strong association between surgery and first provider seen for the back injury even after adjustment for other important variables in the study.

Could whether you have surgery or not simply be a function of whether you saw a chiropractor or not?

According to this research, it’s very likely.

“Seeing a surgeon before a chiropractor meant the injured person had about a 28.5 TIMES greater risk of having surgery.”

Many people that are injured at work never see a chiropractor.

At times, it’s because they don’t know their rights.

Texarkana is a little trickier than most cities for worker’s compensation because we serve both Texas and Arkansas.

This isn’t legal advice (see an attorney for that), but as of this post in Texas you have the right to choose your primary treating doctor and that includes choosing to see a chiropractor.

In Arkansas, right now it’s a little different but you still have the opportunity to see a chiropractor for injuries… especially if you’ve seen the chiropractor in the past.

Taking a step back from this…

MD Referrals to Chiropractors.

Your MD or surgeon could refer you to a chiropractor to see if the care would help you avoid surgery.

Even the AMA recommends seeing a chiropractor before surgery!

The big question is why don’t more MDs follow this advice?

Most Texarkana MDs do not and this appears to be because they don’t know enough about chiropractic to refer.

This is why the FDA recently recommended that MDs learn more about chiropractic.

Taking Medications.

Many people do not want to take a medication or can not because of other health issues.

Another thing to consider when dealing with a work injury is whether you want to take an opiate or not.

Many people are concerned because of the opiod crisis.

Others can’t take pain relievers because they have a heart problem, even over the counter pain relievers.

Often people don’t want to take medications because of side effects.

I hear this often in my patients about muscle relaxers that make some people very tired.

Steroid pills or injections might not be a good option for diabetics due to the fact that they will very likely cause major blood sugar elevations.

Sometimes it makes sense to do both medications and chiropractic together.

In fact, there is good evidence that this might be the best of both worlds.

Finally, it just makes sense to see a chiropractor to get better when you hurt your back at work.

Chiropractic is exceptionally safe and effective.

Much safer than most other alternatives and it just might help you avoid surgery as noted in the study referenced above.

Need to see Dr. Hagebusch at our Texarkana Chiropractic Clinic?

Contact Us, We’re Here To Help!

Reference:

Early predictors of lumbar spine surgery after occupational back injury: results from a prospective study of workers in Washington State.