In the fall of 2018, the Payless shoe company conducted a very telling social experiment. You may have heard about the shoe chain’s stunt in the news. “The Payless Experiment” tricked consumers into buying their typically budget-friendly shoes at sky-high markups. To carry out the ruse, the discount retailer invited style influencers to a fake launch party for a new high-end label in one of Los Angeles’ glitziest shopping areas. The attendees believed that they were buying fashionable, high-quality footwear and therefore didn’t object to the three-figure price tags. Aside from being a brilliant marketing ploy for Payless, what lessons does “The Payless Experiment” have for our current healthcare system, and specifically for patients suffering from low back pain?
The experiment is a commentary on perceived vs. real value, and also on how easily we can be swayed into believing that something is reliable as presented. Think about someone who has had weeks of pain and dysfunction stemming from low back pain. If an intricate surgery or other “state-of-the-art” procedure is presented as the most high-end option, then it’s likely to sound appealing, right? But does that high-end intervention actually provide the best value in any one given situation? Might another less “glitzy” treatment work out just as well? Or even better? Today’s consumer has many choices when shopping for just about anything – from apparel to healthcare. But while it’s customary to shop for the best price without sacrificing quality for things like a new car or for sports equipment such as a bicycle or a tennis racquet, shopping around for the best solution and value for treatment for our physical ailments is less typical. Doing our due diligence in researching healthcare may ultimately introduce us to effective solutions that we didn’t originally consider.
In the case of low back pain, one such typically valuable but often under-heralded solution is physical therapy. Physical therapy has in many studies been found to provide equally or sometimes more effective outcomes compared to more invasive solutions for patients suffering from low back pain. Physical therapy is associated with far less risk of complications than are inherent to back surgery. And physical therapy has certainly been demonstrated as less costly than surgical procedures, injections, MRIs, or ongoing prescriptions for pharmaceutical pain relievers. Physical therapy intervention can restore and improve spinal mobility, reduce soft tissue pain, build muscle strength, and improve physical function. A physical therapist not only can develop custom strategies to treat persistent or recurrent low back pain, but also can educate patients about maintenance care and the prevention of future issues. Some of these techniques include adopting or following a regular exercise program to keep back and leg muscles strong and healthy and learning to lift, push, and pull correctly.
We each probably have a strategy in place for selecting how to spend money on everything from a home, to charitable donations, to appropriate gifts for family birthdays. We might think about approaching our healthcare needs with the same level of scrutiny. Finding the right solution at the right price for our medical needs can contribute to improved long-term health outcomes as well as better peace of mind.