“I Hurt My Back, I Need to See a PT!”
Everyone knows someone who has suffered a lower back injury at some point during their life. It has been estimated that 80% or Americans will experience a lower back injury during their life that will cause them to seek medical treatment and ultimately miss time from work. For most of these individuals, the pain either does not go away or returns frequently and becomes chronic. Not only is chronic low back pain one of the leading causes of disability, but also leads to billions of healthcare dollars being spent each year to combat it.
Reduce Cost of Care by 60% with PT!
A recent study (published in April 2015) in the BMC Health Services Research reviewed over 122,000 military health records of patients presenting with acute low back pain. Researchers divided the patients into 4 subgroups: Those who received physical therapy within 14 days; those receiving after 14 days; those who received “adherent” physical therapy (care using best evidence); and those who received “non-adherent” care. Early referral (<14 days) to quality physical therapy lead to significantly less treatment time and ~ 60% reduction in the total cost of the care!
Control Your Health and Be Informed
Consumers have more control over their healthcare decisions today than ever before. This has led to consumers not only being more informed than ever but also the importance of staying informed! We (and by “we” I mean PTs ☺) need to do a better job at educating consumers so that they can make the most informed decisions regarding their care. I hope you will help spread the word to your friends and family about the benefits of physical therapy and lets choose #ptfirst.
If you know of someone who is suffering from back pain, please have them give us a call at 339-987-4856.
Cray Physical Therapy offers treatments, management and general information for several types of pain related to work, sports or everyday living injuries. Give us a call at 339-987-4856 so we can help you get on the road to recovery! You can also fill out our contact form by clicking here and we will be back in touch.