California Professional Forums - Mattress for Injured Worker

HOME PAGE

GO to Injured Worker Forum

Navigation:

login

ALL FORUM'S TOPICS OR UR, MPN & ACOEM TOPICS

Thread Title: Mattress for Injured Worker
Created On Monday August 18, 2008 5:04 PM

D.C.
Member

Posts: 54
Joined: Jun 2005

Monday August 18, 2008 5:04 PM

User is offline

View thread in raw text format

About 8 years ago, the insurance company granted a mattress upon request to a patient with chronic back pain. (lifetime award granted)

Now, they are denying it. Any thoughts?

Jpod
Junior Member

Posts:
Joined: Oct 2006

Tuesday August 19, 2008 9:16 AM

User is offline

View thread in raw text format

You will have to justify treatment either under ACOEM or some other scientifically based, blah, blah, blah study.

There is no such thing as a lifetime award of future medical. Future medical awards are always subject to the definition of reasonable and necessary medical treatment to cure and relieve the effects of the injury that is found in LC section 4600. Treatment in line with ACOEM is presumed correct, but can be rebuted using other studies.

inquiring mind
Senior Member

Posts: 271
Joined: May 2005

Thursday August 21, 2008 1:34 PM

User is offline

View thread in raw text format

There was a study done about mattresses a few years back. I think the otucome has something to do with the type of mattress that is more beneficial to back pain sufferers, which I believe is medium-firm mattresses. The study was done in another country but was published in a medical journal. Unfortunately, it escapes me right now the name of the journal and name of the study done.

May be you can use this to justify the continued use of the mattress. Good luck!

IM

DrMo
Junior Member

Posts: 2
Joined: Jul 2008

Thursday September 04, 2008 10:06 AM

User is offline

View thread in raw text format

This will be an uphill struggle but here are some studies to help with the "fight".
#1 Spine. 2008 Apr 1;33(7):703-8.Click here to read Links
Better backs by better beds?
Bergholdt K, Fabricius RN, Bendix T.

Back Research Center, Part of Clinical Locomotion Science, Backcenter Funen, Ringe, Denmark.
CONCLUSION: The Waterbed and foam mattress' did influence back symptoms, function and sleep more positively as apposed to the hard mattress, but the differences were small.
#2 MedGenMed. 2000 Sep 11;2(3):E36.Click here to read Links
Short-term outcomes of chronic back pain patients on an airbed vs innerspring mattresses.
Monsein M, Corbin TP, Culliton PD, Merz D, Schuck EA.

Sister Kenny Institute Chronic Pain Rehabilitation Program, Minneapolis, MN, USA.
DISCUSSION AND CONCLUSION: SF-36 and VAS outcomes measures showed a highly significant benefit for the airbed design in this short-term comparison. The airbed appears to be a useful sleep aid and an adjunct to medical and physical therapies for chronic back pain sufferers.
Good luck,
Dr. Mo

jonbrissman@verizon.net
Senior Member

Posts: 377
Joined: Oct 2003

Thursday September 11, 2008 12:58 PM

User is offline

View thread in raw text format

The current ODG Treatment Guidelines for the low back says, "There are no high quality studies to support purchase of any type of specialized mattress or bedding as a treatment for low back pain." It speaks about some anecdotal evidence favoring waterbeds or medium-firmness mattresses, but concludes that mattress selection is based on personal taste.

In today's environment of evidence-based medicine, the patient or his/her physician should be required to produce a high-quality study to justify expenditure for a mattress as a therapeutic or prophylactic treatment regimen. If ODG's conclusions are accurate, no such studies exist.

JCB

ymcgavin@socal.rr.com
Senior Member

Posts: 1351
Joined: Jun 2002

Thursday September 11, 2008 7:14 PM

User is offline

View thread in raw text format

Hi all,

I just did a simple google scholar search using the terms 'mattress AND back pain' and got lots of hits.

One might want to review this google scholar search

Google Scholar can be found by going to: http://scholar.google.com/scholar.

York McGavin
ymcgavin@socal.rr.com

postscript2
Senior Member

Posts: 639
Joined: Sep 2006

Monday September 22, 2008 8:44 AM

User is offline

View thread in raw text format

If the I/C or TPA/ER has been "renting" a mattress for 8 years, they likely could have paid for a high quality bed 3 times over for the same cost. I can't believe that there aren't studies out there that would confirm a good mattress is beneficial in controling pain and symptoms of "chronic" back pain... It's a relatively small price to pay if it provides pain relief and aids in the healing process.

WOW, waterbeds? When was that study done--in the '70's?

LCS

FORUMS > UR, MPN & ACOEM

FuseTalk 3.0 - Copyright © 1999-2002 e-Zone Media Inc. All rights reserved.

© 2013 WorkCompCentral Workers Compensation Forums