This one isn’t exactly hot off the presses, but it’s worth noting. Of course, we’ve known for a while that smoking is a definite risk factor for back pain and disc disease. A new study presented this March at the 2013 Annual Meeting of the American Academy of Orthopaedic Surgeons (AAOS), looked at low back/radicular leg pain in patients who actually quit smoking compared to those who didn’t. The study covered 6779 subjects. Here’s what they found.
Overall, 8.9 percent of patients over age of 55 smoked compared with 23.9 percent of those age 55 and younger.
Twenty-five percent of patients over age 55 had quit smoking prior to the study, as had 26.1 percent of those younger than age 55.
Mean improvement in reported pain over the course of treatment was significantly different in non-smokers and current smokers in both age groups.
Current smokers in both age groups reported greater pain than those who had never smoked.
Those who quit smoking during the course of care reported greater pain improvement than those who continued to smoke.
As a group, those who continued smoking during treatment had no clinically significant improvement in reported pain, regardless of age.
Worth remembering if you are faced with a non responding case. Sometimes everything we do for the patient isn’t sufficient to overcome what they are doing to themselves.
via Blogger http://chiropractic-lane.blogspot.com/2013/08/you-think-love-hurts-not-like-smoking.html
Recent Comments