The Cooperative Approach To Spinecare

Cooperative spine care refers to two or more health care professionals from different disciplines working together to preserve or restore spinal integrity while prioritizing the patient’s well being.

Reasons for Cooperative Spinecare

• Reduce the likelihood of unnecessary or duplicative testing.  Optimize the continuity of care
• Reduce the risk for unnecessary surgery
• Early detection of spinal disorders at varying stages of development
• Expanded criteria for outcome-based care
• Improved patient recovery
• Reduced cost of spine care

Who May Benefit by Cooperative Spinecare?

The patient with persistent or progressive pain, numbness, muscle weakness or abnormal spinal movement who is not recovering as expected may require a multidisciplinary approach with the combined expertise of the chiropractic physician and the neurosurgeon to maximize potential recovery.

Benefits of Cooperative Spinecare

The potential patient benefits of cooperative spine care include early diagnosis, timely intervention, a broad range of therapeutic options, continuity of care, and improved potential for recovery.

Common Ground: The Doctor of Chiropractic and the Neurosurgeon

Chiropractic physicians and neurosurgeons both have extensive training in spinal anatomy, spinal biomechanics, diseases of the spine and neurology as it relates to the spine.  Both disciplines can perform or order the necessary procedures required to diagnose spine disorders and related conditions.

The patient may have two or more problems, one surgical and another non-surgical, thus requiring a multidisciplinary approach.  Common examples of conditions that may coexist include degenerative disc disease, pain syndromes, disc herniation, arthritic disease, abnormal spinal joint movement and radiculopathy.  The chiropractic physician and the neurosurgeon care for many of the same degenerative spinal disorders at different ends of the disease spectrum.