Book Description

Unknown to most are the many studies reporting that most low back pain is a rapidly reversible condition; that is, it can be eliminated, often quickly, by the patients themselves. This large subgroup can now be identified early on, providing opportunity for great cost savings and a goldmine of research discoveries about the causes of, and solutions to, low back pain. Dr. Donelson is a veteran spine specialist, researcher and educator who brings badly needed common sense and evidence to this complex problem of low back pain. In this hard-to-put-down account, he accurately exposes flaws in the low back pain scientific process and then offers simple, logical remedies. His insightful review of this valuable, yet ironically overlooked, clinical research reveals both clinical and economic solutions from implementing patient-specific treatments, rather than the "one-size-fits-all" guideline recommendations. This refreshing approach offers clinicians clinical methods to objectively determine non-pharmacologic ways for patients to gain control of their own low back pain and to recover more quickly and simply. Such objective decision-making offers new insights into how to avoid the need for medication, expensive imaging, or specialist referral, including low back surgery. And for the first time, psychosocial factors and manual therapies are placed in their proper perspective. This is a valuable read for any stakeholder seeking to improve the management of low back pain and to dramatically reduce its annual U.S. cost of $50 billion or more. Employers, payers, and disease management groups alike will benefit from these reliable means of determining the few necessary and many avoidable costs of managing low back pain.