“Seeing is believing.” Ever heard
that saying before? Vancouver Spine Care Centre bets you have. Vancouver Spine Care Centre knows
that Vancouver back pain patients often want to see the cause of their pain. (They believe they have pain by now!) Today, imaging doesn’t always meet a patient’s desire to see the cause
if it is due to an issue like chemical
irritation when disc material leaks out to a nerve root, so imaging
can only go so far in meeting a patient’s desire to see the cause. But Vancouver back pain patients can believe that
their Vancouver chiropractor will thoroughly tell
them the cause of their pain…and set a treatment plan to ease
that pain.
THE GOOD OF IMAGING
Imaging recommendations today
seem to be all about reducing imaging exposure and
cost. The concern of radiation exposure is being dealt with by carefully examining low back pain patients for more specific findings,
reducing radiation dose and performing more MRI
than CT. These efforts in turn reduce the cost of
imaging. (1) Recommendations today are to hold off on imaging for 6-8 weeks of conservative treatment. Vancouver Spine Care Centre has followed the Cox Technic System of Spinal Pain Management which suggests holding off on imaging (in the absence of "red flags" which a thorough clinical examination finds) for a month during which time 50% improvement is sought. If 30 days pass without such improvement, imaging is ordered. These are win-win situations for
Vancouver back pain patients and their healthcare providers like your
Vancouver chiropractor typically.
BACK PAIN SUFFERERS WANT TO “SEE”
Other times (and Vancouver Spine Care Centre totally understands
this!) patients want to “see” their diagnosis. Words and descriptions and
drawings are one thing while imaging is a lot more personal.
When it comes to non-specific back pain, there is an extra
layer of curiosity as it’s “non-specific” and doesn’t
always have a glaring cause for the pain. The
public and patients believe imaging helps determine the back
pain condition. They are not alone as some healthcare professionals do, too. (2)
That’s probably why patients and their healthcare
providers want MRI and xrays.
MEDICINE AND SPINAL IMAGING
Interestingly, for years, medicine downplayed the idea
of imaging for spine problems. Today, medicine becomes more
and more interested in it. For cervical spine myelopathy, for example,
treating physicians rely on imaging to determine the severity of it. Particularly, a set
of researchers looked at the possibility of
how imaging helped visualize the relationship between lumbopelvic
alignment and cervical alignment and resulting cervical spine
myelopathy severity. (3) Imaging has its good points. Your Vancouver
back pain specialist at Vancouver Spine Care Centre wants to be sure imaging is positively
contributory to the treatment plan for our back pain patients’ ultimate
recovery and pain relief. We know that “seeing is believing” and
respect what imaging brings to the treatment plan when necessary.
CONTACT Vancouver Spine Care Centre
Listen to this PODCAST
with Dr. Dan Clark on The Back
Doctors Podcast with Dr. Michael Johnson as he describes how
useful imaging can be for a patient’s treatment plan and final
outcome of care.
Schedule your Vancouver chiropractic appointment at
Vancouver Spine Care Centre to more fully comprehend your back pain and
its relieving treatment plan whether you can see its source or
not because you certainly already believe you
have pain. Vancouver Spine Care Centre believes in its relief. You can, too.