Pain Management: Back Pain Treatment
Lower back pain is a lot more common than you think. It's one of the main reasons people of all ages call in sick to work and skip their daily activities. This discomfort can indicate certain illnesses, such as a herniated disc. Some congenital anomalies, like scoliosis or other structural abnormalities, are also potential culprits. However, most of the time, it results from an injury or poor posture.
Many suffer muscle sprains from bad mechanics when lifting heavy objects or prolonged sitting with an improper ergonomic set-up. Sudden movements or a vigorous workout can also cause inflammation and discomfort. Whatever the case is, you should seek a specialist's opinion. It's never a good idea to self-diagnose or auto-medicate. An expert will be able to provide the best treatment options for you.
What Is Pain Management?
The systematic investigation of the causes of pain and their impact on the human body with the help of various disciplines is known as pain medicine or pain management. In practice, non-surgical treatment methods are applied, and several different techniques are used to combat pain in the locomotor and spine.
At Natural Chiropractic Care, we are dedicated to helping patients identify the causes of back pain, lead happy and fulfilling lives free of discomfort and pain, and finally, understand which pain management techniques can help improve long-term back health.
Pain Management for Chronic Back Pain
If an individual's pain lasts 12 weeks or more, even after an underlying cause of mild back pain or initial injury has been treated, it is defined as chronic back pain. While this type of pain is quite difficult to treat, especially if you suffer from neuropathic pain or have undergone failed back operations, it certainly isn't impossible. Chiropractic treatments designed to treat chronic back pain can help reduce the extent of the condition and minimize its overall effects on the patient's quality of life. Our expert chiropractors can offer the necessary care and treatment if you or your loved one suffers chronic back pain.
A full physical examination is always performed before spinal manipulation if a patient's condition calls for it. Whether it's chronic back pain, headaches, or even neck pain, chiropractic treatments have proven to help. Recent studies show that combining effective therapies such as manual and chiropractic can significantly help reduce lower back pain.
While back pain is usually short-term and only lasts for a few weeks, acute back pain often comes with a major risk of relapse. There is always a considerable chance of the development of a chronic condition. Many children and adults in the U.S. suffer from chronic back pain. Sometimes, the condition is caused by increasing old age; other times; it develops due to pre-existing conditions; since every case varies, determining the root cause can become quite difficult.
With the rapid development in the medical world, advanced studies continue to offer new insights into the science behind chronic pain, its treatment methods, and how patients can manage it. Remember, it is always important to consult a healthcare professional to find out the actual cause of your pain before you undergo extensive medical surgeries or procedures. Once all diagnostic options have been exhausted, you can seek a second opinion from a back and pain specialist.
So, what else can you do to relieve chronic back pain?
Treatment and Care
Many health conditions are preventable, and pain in the lower back is not an exception. Back pain is often the result of negligence while doing your everyday activities. Maintaining correct posture, avoiding movements that jolt or strain the back, and lifting objects properly are great preventive measures. They'll certainly help you keep this condition at bay.
Back pain is not exclusive to people with an active lifestyle. A sedentary office job can also be to blame. Repeated contact between your back's soft tissue and a non-ergonomic chair is problematic. An awkward posture can also produce back injuries in the long run. To keep your lumbar area healthy, consider following these recommendations:
Exercise regularly to keep your core muscles strong and flexible.
Maintain a healthy weight to reduce the strain on your bones and muscles.
Sleep on your side; this is the best posture to open up the joints and maintain the proper spinal curvature.
Sleep on a firm surface to relieve pressure in the spine.
Lift from the knees to support your back while handling heavy objects.
If lumbar distress interferes with your personal and professional life, you're not alone. Nowadays, up to 80% of adults suffer from this irritating ailment. Most people will experience back pain at least once in their life. However, in this case, "common" doesn't mean normal. Back pain is a global cause of disability and should be treated to avoid complications.
To better identify back pain causes, you'll need to provide your physician with your complete medical history. The specialist might then recommend diagnostic imaging and assessment. These routine examinations are essential to rule out any serious concerns. When it comes to acute back pain, it might be easy to pin down the reasons and prescribe the appropriate treatment. However, it may be harder to determine the causes of chronic back pain. Your doctor might want to run some additional analysis, such as:
Bone scans
Diagnostic Imaging Tests (x-rays or MRI)
Once your doctor pinpoints the causes, it's time to take action. Acute pain will often go away on its own. A specialist might prescribe some over-the-counter medications to help ease the discomfort. However, chronic lower back pain is a different story. Keeping it under control can require continuing treatment.
Pain Management Techniques
Often doctors recommend patients visit pain specialists for relief from back pain. In addition, various pain management programs are designed to offer customized treatment options to patients and help them alleviate pain using advanced and effective techniques. When patients truly believe an option is right for them, their condition is more likely to improve. The key to getting better is consistency. Do not give up. It is important to work with your doctor proactively to, if not make the pain disappear completely, then at least reduce its negative impacts.
Chiropractors are specialists that combine therapeutic techniques such as acupuncture, chiropractic adjustments, manual therapy, and other similar treatments with traditional spinal manipulation to create an optimized treatment method. These professionals try to identify the root cause of the pain, such as lack of exercise, poor diet, poor posture, and more, to help determine the technique that will work best for you. If the cause of your condition remains unknown, your best bet is to work on managing the pain using non-surgical methods. It is highly recommended to consult with a back and pain specialist for a second opinion.
Following are some pain management techniques used by chiropractors to treat and manage back pain:
Physical Therapy and Exercise
To complement your recovery, you should also consider physical therapy. Proper medication and physical activity will put your discomfort to rest. There are several exercise programs to strengthen your core muscle groups. These movements will help provide more support to your lower back and will also improve mobility and flexibility. Strong core muscles promote better posture.
Doctors and chiropractors also recommend spinal manipulation and spinal mobilization. These exercises take place at the specialist's office and provide excellent results. Your physician will mobilize or stimulate the spine and surrounding tissues with localized massages and manual adjustments. These techniques provide short-term benefits in people with chronic lower back pain. However, they're unsuitable for osteoporosis, spinal cord compression, or arthritis patients.
Doctors consider physical therapy one of the best treatment options for chronic back pain. It involves a physical therapist guiding the patient through various exercises designed to work on their specific condition and symptoms. These exercises also help patients test their limits to pain tolerance. Since pain tolerance and threshold vary greatly from person to person, understanding these factors can play a major role in your success with the training program
Your physiotherapist will not only help you build body strength but will also show you how to achieve a posture that is beneficial for your health. Stretching and flexibility activities can help improve the general range of motion and mobility, reduce muscle tension and reduce the risk of redeveloping back pain. Strengthening the core can help improve stability, bracing, and awareness. Lastly, performing aerobic exercises for a prolonged period can help promote the healing process, stimulate nutrients in the body, reduce stiffness, improve blood circulation and eventually reduce back pain.
There's strong evidence that low-impact exercises can improve mobility and reduce pain. Yoga and Pilates have a short-term effect on treating lower back issues. They both stretch and strengthen the body with slow and controlled movements. They also relieve stress, another known reason for lower back pain. Some other effective techniques to manage tension are mindfulness meditation, deep breathing, guided imagery, and progressive muscle relaxation.
Alternative Medicine
If you are interested in a more natural approach to caring for your body, alternative medicine is an excellent option for treating back pain. Some studies say that acupuncture is a great way of treating this ailment. It consists of inserting small, thin needles into the body. It helps with pain management by stimulating the release of certain chemicals in the body. The objective is to restore energy flow.
Along with this ancient Chinese practice, you can use natural ingredients to manage your discomfort. Some popular holistic solutions for lower back pain include chamomile tea, CBD oil, arnica, cayenne pepper, lavender oil, magnesium, lemongrass, and turmeric. These ingredients reduce inflammation and promote relaxation.
Acupuncture
Acupuncture works in various ways to help provide back pain relief. It stimulates the nervous system. The trigger points stimulated through this practice release chemicals from the brain, muscles, and spinal cord, eventually helping relieve pain naturally. Indulging in acupuncture practices can also help improve mood, sleep, and stability, all of which contribute to relieving back pain.
Chiropractic Adjustments
Chiropractic adjustments help improve movement by manipulating joints using sudden, controlled forces. This practice is also used with back pain to prevent injury, restore function and relieve leg, hip, shoulder, and neck pain.
Spinal Manipulation
Spinal manipulation also referred to as spinal adjustment or spinal manipulation therapy, is used to improve physical function and spinal movement and reduce back pain, depression, and anxiety.
This pain management technique can contribute significantly to speeding up patients' recovery process.
When adopting any of the techniques above, you must remember that no method can work for every patient. Therefore, it is important to consult a healthcare professional to understand your specific condition and unique needs to get the treatment you deserve.
Chiropractic treatments remain near the top of the list of hundreds of ways to relieve back pain. They offer you non-invasive treatment options that have proven effective for many.
Make sure to consult your healthcare provider for professional medical advice. Remember that even natural supplements and herbs can cause serious drug-drug interactions.
With all the information above on back pain management and treatment, we hope you can now make an informed decision about whether chiropractic treatment methods are right for your specific condition.
If you or your loved ones are struggling with chronic pain, contact our natural care and wellness center at Natural Care Chiropractic in Lindenhurst today to schedule an appointment and work toward a healthy and optimized lifestyle!