By Dr. Danica Newbold, B. HSci (Chiro), M. Clin Chiro, Ad. Dip Myotherapy
Patient education benefits everyone1. As D. Koren, wrote in, The Impact of Knowledge: Patient Education Improves Compliance and Outcomes, when a condition is clearly understood by a patient, they are more comfortable with their care and more likely to adhere to the recommendations of their practitioner1. This is true of all health professions, and equally applies to Chiropractors. When a patient does not understand the proposed treatment plan set by the treating Chiropractor, clinical outcomes may be adversely affected.
One of the most common conditions treated by Chiropractors is Low Back Pain. Low back pain is a major global problem and it is getting worse2. It is considered to be one of the most poorly managed conditions around the world and this may be due to a lack of understanding about the patients and their condition, i.e. how their pain impacts their lives and activities of daily living (ADL’s). At Malvern Chiropractic and Melbourne Spine Clinics, we apply evidence-based Chiropractic therapies such as, Cox ® Flexion- Distraction Therapy, which has more than 50 years of research behind it. We also advocate recent evidence-based guidelines regarding non-pharmacological approaches as first line treatment2 in low back pain cases.
Your practitioners at Malvern Chiropractic Clinic and Melbourne Spine Clinic take an Active and Passive care approach to providing the best possible outcomes for your pain. The passive element of your care is your scheduled appointments, the use of the Cox® 8 table and the treatment your practitioner provides. The active part of your care, is the prescribed exercises, advice on ergonomics including chairs and desks in the workplace and at home, tactics, and care plans. The advice our practitioners give is backed by clinical research and experience. Our aim in helping you understand your pain, long and short-term goals, as well as possible outcomes the therapy can achieve, is to get you back to the activities of daily living as soon as possible!
REFERENCES:
- Koren, D. The Impact of Knowledge: Patient Education Improves Compliance and Outcomes. 2016. MediaPost. https://www.thewellnessnetwork.net/health-news-and-insights/blog/the-impact-of-knowledge-patient-education-improves-compliance-and-outcomes/
- Simon D. French, Aron S. Downie, Bruce F. Walker. Low back pain: a major global problem for which the chiropractic profession needs to take more care. 2018 26:28 https://doi.org/10.1186/s12998-018-0199-6