A large number of nursing home residents who suffer from chronic pain do not receive sufficient medical care to determine the cause of their pain, and to treat it. Many also do not receive medication for pain relief when appropriate, or they are overmedicated in order to stop complaints but the nursing home physician does not treat the cause. Sometimes this even leads to the need of a nursing home neglect lawyer. According to researchers, two in five nursing home residents in the U.S. experience chronic pain. Among those who experience persistent pain, roughly six percent did not receive any medication for their pain. About 32% of those residents did not receive sufficient dosages of medication to address their symptoms.
Pain Management of Nursing Home Residents
Persistent pain among nursing home residents is not uncommon, and many who do experience do not receive the level of care that they need and deserve. Poor care, or no care at all of an elder’s pain and discomfort is a form of neglect. If you learn that your loved one has been experiencing pain and has not had a sufficient response from the nursing home’s staff, this may be indicative of a serious problem. Those residents who suffer from severe cognitive impairment are 51% more likely to experience pain that is untreated or undertreated as compared to residents who do not have an impairment or have only a minor impairment. If your elder has shared with you that they are in chronic pain, or you have noticed the symptoms yourself but the nursing home has been unresponsive, you may need to consider taking action against the facility. Begin with speaking to the care providers about remedying your loved one’s pain by determining the cause and then addressing it if it can be treated. Some health conditions cannot be improved, particularly for someone at an advanced age who may be dealing with overall deteriorating health. If that is the case then it behooves you and your loved one to take them to a physician or else seeing the facility’s physician for a determination of whether or not pain medication is in order.
Chiropractic Treatment for Older Adults
Chiropractic treatment is an effective approach for people of nearly any age. It is the preferred method for many persons who wish to address the cause of their ailments rather than mask the cause and its symptoms with medications. Chiropractic care can also negate the need for invasive surgery. Surgery can be traumatic for the patient and require a lengthy recovery time. As we age, the complications associated with surgery increase, as does the recovery time.
Nearly 14% of patients who are treated by a chiropractor are age 65 or older. If the nursing home where your loved one resides does not have a chiropractor on staff or as a consultant, you may wish to take your elder to an outside doctor of chiropractic.
Common Reasons for Chiropractic Treatment for Elders
The number one reason for why an elder may visit a Doctor of Chiropractic is for musculoskeletal pain, usually in the lower back area. Neck pain is another trouble area for older persons. Other conditions that motivate elders to undergo chiropractic care are Parkinson’s disease, pneumonia, multiple sclerosis, constipation, urinary incontinence, osteoarthritic pain and dysfunction, and Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease.
