October 4, 2022
By: Dwayne Page
Dr. Robert R. Atnip, the City of Smithville, and DeKalb County are joining chiropractic physicians nationwide this October during National Chiropractic Health Month to help raise awareness of non-drug approaches to pain management in the face of the U.S. opioid epidemic.
County Mayor Matt Adcock and Smithville Mayor Josh Miller signed proclamations Monday accompanied by Dr. Atnip and his wife Guylene.
WHEREAS, the opioid crisis continues to take a toll on the health and lives of millions of Americans, and has worsened in some communities during the COVID-19 pandemic;
WHEREAS, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), as many as one in four patients who receive prescription opioids long term for non-cancer pain struggles with addiction and, from 1999-2000, more than 260,000 people died in the U.S. from overdoses involving prescription opioids;
WHEREAS, the interest in and need for greater access to safe and effective non-drug, noninvasive approaches to pain management has increased;
WHEREAS, the American College of Physicians (ACP) released guidelines in 2017 that promote the use of noninvasive, non-drug approaches such as spinal manipulation as a first line of defense against back pain, before the use of pain medications and surgery;
WHEREAS, the CDC in its draft 2022 prescribing guidelines also promotes diverse approaches and varied pain management solutions and specifically encourages use of non-drug therapies as a first line of treatment for subacute and chronic pain and even some types of acute pain.
WHEREAS, Doctors of chiropractic, who focus on the whole person with their non-drug, noninvasive treatments for pain management – most notably spinal manipulation – can play an important role in helping patients lessen their reliance on pain medications;
WHEREAS, there is a growing body of research supporting the early use of chiropractic spinal manipulation in helping patients with chronic low-back pain to reduce or eliminate their need later for prescription opioid pain medications and surgery;
WHEREAS, With the theme “Chiropractic: On the Frontline for Pain,” Chiropractic Health Month 2022 serves as a reminder to citizens of Smithville and DeKalb County that non-drug treatments for a low-back pain such as spinal manipulation provided by doctors of chiropractic can help to lessen or eliminate the need for riskier, potentially addictive treatments and should be utilized where appropriate before starting prescription opioid pain medications.
THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED, that Smithville and DeKalb County officially join with the American Chiropractic Association (TCA) in proclaiming the month of October 2022 as National Chiropractic Health Month.