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Chiropractors push for drug-free pain treatment options

A deadly and costly push to bring prescription opioids into the mainstream to treat pain — despite their highly addictive nature and frequent abuse — has led to treatment plans that often don’t heal the cause of the condition and saturate communities with substances that many say led them on a path to life-altering addiction.

A campaign from Ohio chiropractors, led by a Howland doctor named Ohio’s 2017 Chiropractor of the Year, is seeking to change public perception about treatment options for pain and encourage more medication-free treatment options in hospitals and doctors’ offices. That mission coincides with recent recommendations made to physicians by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the American College of Physicians.

Dr. Patrick Ensminger, the chairman of the recently minted Ohio State Chiropractic Association Opioid Task Force and president of the Eastern Ohio Chirpractic Society, cites a New England Journal of Medicine study that found 80 percent of people addicted to heroin began the habit with a prescription opioid.

The progression from prescription pills to street drugs labeled heroin, but now found laced with cheaply made synthetic opioids sent into the country from China and Mexico, is well documented by members of the community who have told their stories of substance use and the officials working in treatment and recovery.

The drugs aren’t only dangerous, but they really don’t solve the ailment for which a person sought care in the first place, Dr. Ensminger said.

“But we, as a profession, we are effective,” Ensminger said. “Unfortunately, there is a lot of skepticism out there that we have to overcome. Our biggest difficulty is that there is a disconnect between the chiropractic community and the medical community. If I was an MD putting forth the platform I have, people would be latching onto it everywhere.”

The prescriptions have contributed to a public health crisis that has killed more Trumbull County residents each year since 2013, breaking records with more than 100 deaths in 2016, another likely outcome in 2017, according to the most recent data from the Trumbull County Coroner’s Office.

“The opioid crisis in Trumbull and Mahoning counties is horrible, we’ve been hit hard. It’s a nightmare scenario, and it’s like we are on a hamster wheel and it keeps spinning and spinning. Something needs to change, and fast. Because this is a slippery slope and if it keeps going we won’t be able to climb out of this hole,” said Dr. Chris Raymond of Raymond Chiropractic in Austintown.

Ever since pain became known as the “fifth vital sign,” along with body temperature, pulse, respiration rate and blood pressure, doctors have been under pressure to relieve the symptoms quickly, which often doesn’t lead to the treatment of the cause, Ensminger said.

“It’s not enough to treat pain, to treat the symptoms. We need to focus on treating the condition,” Raymond said.

And while the word chiropractor is often synonymous with back pain, they are not limited to back issues. Chiropractic solutions work on muscular, skeletal and nerve issues all over the entire body, the doctors said.

“We treat anything from new acute pain from injuries, to chronic degenerative arthritis, to old injuries from 20 years ago,” Raymond said.

Research, statistics and client feedback show chiropractic solutions work, Raymond said.

“We have some of the highest patient satisfaction rates there is,” Raymond said.

Dr. Gerald Dickson of Gentle Chiropractic in Warren said the satisfaction comes from a treatment plan that works, rather than suppressing the issue with pain pills, allowing the injury to get worse.

“About 90 percent of my patients tell me ‘thank you, you took care of my pain, it’s the best thing ever because the pain is finally gone,'” Dickson said.

The longer the issue goes on, the more impact there is on the patient’s mobility — which can effect their ability to work, go to school or get off the medications at some point, Dickson said.

Many might not realize that chiropractic solutions are cost effective and often don’t just lead to a reduction of pain, but also improved function of the afflicted area, Raymond said.

And, chiropractors have the same licenses and ability to provide primary care services as a family doctor, Dickson said.

Chiropractors can order tests and recommend other types of specialists if needed. Treatment plans vary for every individual, but patients are often seen for four to six weeks, reassessed and then continue on with more or less frequent visits.

The doctors want to see more hospitals taking advantage of chiropractic solutions, and to even consider adding residential chiropractors to their staff who can see emergency room patients, which is something happening in larger hospitals across the country, Raymond said.

Ensminger and other chiropractors are also offering their services in addiction treatment facilities, which is a much needed service, because when someone is getting off opioids, they still have the original pain that led them to seek the medication, Ensminger said. A goal of the task force is to connect every treatment facility in Ohio with a chiropractor, Ensminger said.

Ensminger they’ve sent out letters to every prescription writing doctor in the tri-county area to share their drug-free approach. The response was underwhelming.

“We don’t mind sharing the field with physicians, and drugs and surgery have their place. But so do chiropractic solutions. We can take care and manage pain in a way that doesn’t use drugs,” Dickson said. “What we are asking is for people to consider non-drug therapy first.”

The group is hopeful its message will take hold because their approach is time-tested and they are confident once the public is more aware of what a chiropractor can do for pain, they will come around, Ensminger said.

And in recent years, more and more people in recovery and people fearful of addiction to opioids have sought chiropractic care, Raymond said.

“When I first started in 2008 it was all opioids, injections and then surgery. It is a algorithm they used. But now, the American College of Physicians are starting to push more conservative treatments first. It is a mental change that has taken some time to catch on, but I think it is slowly changing,” Raymond said.

But the push will have the most effect if medication-free options are pushed before drugs more often in hospitals and by physicians in private practice, which the task force hopes to accomplish by holding meetings and an outreach campaign with the medical community. The task force is dividing Ohio into about 13 districts to disseminate their message.

“We have to do what we can to help people, to help end this crisis,” Ensminger said.

rfox@tribtoday.com

To learn more

Visit myvalleychiro.com for more information about medication-free pain management or to find a doctor near you.

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