Monday, October 14, 2013

The Prescription You May Not Need

The Prescription You May Not Need

Make sure your doc didn’t rush that scrip: Doctors are increasingly prescribing drugs and tests for back pain that don’t follow treatment guidelines, reports a new study from Harvard University.

Between 1999 and 2010, the number of narcotic prescriptions for back pain rose 51 percent, and referrals for MRIs and CT scans shot up 57 percent.

“Primary care physicians are increasingly crunched for time; sometimes it’s easier to order a test or a narcotic than to counsel a patient about managing his pain,” says study author John N. Mafi, M.D.

Your doc’s advice should start with ice and ibuprofen or acetaminophen and then, if those don’t work, physical therapy.

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