The Confusion in Selecting a Back Pain Treatment Provider
One of the things I have often been surprised by is the overwhelming amount of health care and non-health care providers offering some type of treatment for back pain.
It is interesting to say the least to hear from my patients about the different types of treatments and practitioners that they have endured in a quest to heal their back pain. These range from infomercial gadgets to spinal cord stimulators from massage therapist to Neurosurgeons and everything in between. So how is a person suffering from back pain supposed to decipher between these providers? How is one to know truly who to trust and who to stay clear from?
A recent commentary in The Spine Journal by Scott Haldeman DC, MD, PhD and Simon Dagenais DC, PhD addressed this very topic. In their estimation trying to choose a back pain treatment was akin to “shopping in a foreign supermarket without understanding the product labels.”
I think this analogy fits quite well and I definitely see the correlation in my practice. Many patients come to me out of desperation after other treatments have failed and as I mentioned I am often puzzled and at times outraged by what they have gone through.
Most really have no idea what is wrong or even a clue as to what the doctors think is wrong. The majority have never seen their MRI or really understand the nature and reasoning behind any treatment they have received.
In my practice I think it is imperative that the patient understand their problem in detail, what my program goals are and what can be expected. This sounds relatively straight forward and much like simple common sense, but according to my patients this is not what they’ve experienced.
When choosing a provider for your chronic back pain make sure the explanation of your problem (if you get one) makes sense and has merit. Make sure you feel confident with their level of knowledge and training. And finally make sure you feel comfortable with them, in this health care environment it has never been more important to work as a team and that team has to have trust. Good luck!
