Initial findings from the Gallup-Palmer College of Chiropractic Annual Study of Americans provide insight into U.S. adults' experiences with pain and their perceptions of and opinions regarding pharmaceutical vs. conservative pain management, particularly opioids.
"Americans Prefer Drug-Free Pain Management Over Opioids," a Gallup brief based on specific findings from the 2017 survey, is now available; the complete Gallup-Palmer report, analyzing data gathered February-March 2017, will be released in October. Here's a sampling of the findings outlined in the brief:
Pain is an ongoing issue for Americans: "About one in four adults in the U.S. (27%) have seen a healthcare professional for significant neck or back pain in the last 12 months. More than half of those adults (54%) have had an ongoing problem with neck or back pain for five years or more."
Nearly eight in 10 (78 percent) of Americans "prefer to try other ways to address their physical pain before they take pain medication prescribed by a doctor." However, pain medications are still widely used: "Among those who have had ongoing neck or back pain for less than 12 months, seven in 10 have taken a nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drug (NSAID), such as Advil®, aspirin or Aleve®, to manage the pain, and 45% have taken acetaminophen, such as Tylenol®. One in four of these new neck or back pain sufferers say they took an opioid for pain management."
For managing back / neck pain, chiropractic is perceived as "very effective" by 29 percent of Americans – higher than prescription pain medication (22 percent), back surgery (15 percent) and self-care (9 percent). Only physical therapy (41 percent "very effective") scored higher.
Americans also perceive chiropractic as safer than prescription and OTC medication and back surgery for neck / back pain: 33 percent "very safe," vs. 23 percent for OTC medication, 12 percent for prescription meds and 6 percent for surgery. (By comparison, 68 percent perceive PT as "very safe.")
Because they have yet to pass national legislation protecting the chiropractic profession, Japanese DCs are in a similar situation that U.S. DCs faced. We were fortunate enough to be able to pass chiropractic licensure state by state. The DCs in Japan must accomplish this nationally, which has proved to be an extremely difficult task. And in spite of their efforts, Japanese DCs are currently faced with two chiropractic professions.
This article focuses on nine severe injuries that are generally not diagnosable until the third to fourth week following the date of injury, including how to diagnose these severe injuries. The discovery of any of these injuries early can make a significant difference in the case outcome.
Recently, I taught a 12-hour whiplash class to a group of chiropractors for continuing education. I taught that performing O’Donoghue’s maneuver enabled the providers to differentiate cervical strain from sprain. To my surprise, one of the attendees stated that it is not possible to diagnose a cervical strain and sprain with a whiplashed patient using O’Donoghue’s maneuver.
