October is an important month for the chiropractic profession. These 31 days have been dubbed as National Chiropractic Health Month, which is an initiative aimed at helping patients learn about the benefits of chiropractic care. October is a month for spreading awareness of the advantages offered by doctors of chiropractic, including their expert healthcare and fitness knowledge, according to the American Chiropractic Association.
This year, the ACA is aiming at teaching patients how to feel their best regardless of their age, profession, gender or fitness level. The ideas behind October’s back health awareness includes improving wellness, spine and joint functioning and methods toward optimal well-being.
October 2014 will also be a time of spreading awareness of conservative care, the ACA explains. In years past, patients often followed the path of faster treatment, which may also be riskier. This includes taking painkillers, choosing pain-relief injections and having surgery to improve function and reduce discomfort. These uncertain procedures do not always solve the problem, and chiropractors encourage patients to choose more conservative care before undergoing dangerous operations.
In today’s healthcare system, which becomes costlier every day, it is more logical to follow a conservative care approach and leave pricier forms of treatment until they become a necessity, if they do. Three years ago $2.7 trillion was spent on healthcare in the United States while $551 billion was depleted in Medicare alone. Using conservative care is one way to reduce these ever-increasing costs.
Additionally, outpatient services that include invasive treatments like colonoscopies, interventional radiology procedures and epidural steroid injections have become popular in contemporary medicine. However, the short-term pain relief from epidural steroid injections may be riskier over the long-term. This includes a rise in complications like chemical meningitis and adhesive arachnoiditis.
The initiative led by the ACA asks patients to be their own best advocates by urging their doctors to use conservative care first. If you are experiencing severe pain in your neck or back, chiropractic care, physical therapy and rehabilitation may be the best early options for your optimal health.