Do you have constant back pain? Did you move a certain way, and a past injury flared up? If so, you have probably looked for ways to relieve back pain. Back pain is considered chronic pain when it has lasted for over three months. The pain may come and go, giving temporary relief and causing frustration.
Chronic pain happens due to many underlying conditions and can affect your quality of life. Although the common solution to chronic pain is surgery, there are alternative pain management treatments for back surgery that you can use to get rid of chronic pain. This article highlights the causes of back pain, what helps with back pain, and the treatment of lower back pain.
Common Causes Of Chronic Back Pain
Back pain is a common ailment that affects millions of people worldwide. A variety of factors, including injury, degenerative conditions, and poor posture, can cause it. Some of the most common causes of back pain include:
- Muscle deconditioning: This scenario happens when the back muscles lack the strength to support you, causing wear and tear. Muscles can experience this occurrence as we grow older.
- Incorrect posture: Bad sitting or standing posture strains your spine and the tissue around it for a long time.
- Aging: Our bodies change as we age, making pains a regular occurrence. One loses muscle strength and disc space within the spine.
- Traumatic events: Events such as accidents, ice falls, and trip and fall accidents can trigger any spine pain to flare and cause severe back pain.
Non-Surgical Treatments Options for Chronic Lower Back Pain Relief
As a client, you should seek a diagnosis to develop an effective solution for chronic back pain relief. This step is necessary because not all chronic back pain is common among individuals. The common non-surgical treatments for chronic lower back pain include the following:
Physical Therapy
Physical therapy is the restoration and preservation of a body’s physical functions. It helps people of different ages, gender, and mental disorder. Additionally, physical therapy is effective for people suffering from extreme back pain resulting from medical events, accidents, or chronic disorders. Most patients attend treatment five times a week, but how often you go depends on your condition. Physical therapy is successful when a patient reaches their physical function plateaus.
Interventional Pain Management
Pain is the body’s response to tell you that something is wrong. Since pain comes in different forms, back pain relief treatments do, too. These alternative treatments include:
Spinal Cord Stimulation (SCS)
The Spinal Cord Stimulation procedure utilizes electrical current to block pain signals from the brain to another part of the body. An orthopedic physician places a small LED wire at the back of the nerves in the spinal cord to deliver the electrical stimulation. SCS is useful for patients with pain in the legs, back, and arms.
Genicular Nerve Block
Genicular nerves are nerve branches located around the knee joint. The physician can block these nerves with a radiofrequency treatment called a genicular nerve block. This treatment is commonly used to alleviate pain associated with knee osteoarthritis.
Epidural Steroid Injection (ESI)
An epidural steroid injection (ESI) is a medication injected into the epidural area at the back. Useful in treating spinal stenosis and orthopedic conditions, it can also alleviate back pain by minimizing inflammation in a patient’s legs and back.
Facet Joint Injection
Every facet joint has a medial branch nerve pathway that sends signals to one’s brain. These nerves could cause pain in the back, neck, or spine. A facet joint injection uses fluoroscopy and needles to place the needles right in the facet joint in the right manner.
Medial Block
A medial block in an injection in the nerves found in the facet joint. This injection determines the source of pain in a patient’s specific facet joint.
Radiofrequency Neurotomy
Radiofrequency neurotomy is a procedure that uses radiofrequency waves to heat and disrupt the pain signals in the nerves that supply the facet joints, thus blocking pain to those joints. It is useful in eliminating neck and back pain.
Surgical & Non-Surgical Spine Procedures
Not every spine injury requires spinal surgery. However, spinal surgery is necessary to improve mobility and manage pain. When necessary, spine doctors opt for minimally invasive surgical procedures. These procedures allow for small cuts that cause less harm to tissues and muscles, facilitating quicker recovery.
Lifestyle Modifications
The Azalea Orthopedic Treatment Plan
Orthopedic surgeons and doctors at Azalea Orthopedics prefer to treat all kinds of injuries using non-surgical procedures first. Physical therapy is important in rehabilitation, injury immobilization, and anti-inflammatory medication. The doctors tailor a unique treatment plan according to the patient’s needs when you need a solution to help with back pain relief.
Get In Touch With Azalea Orthopedics In East Texas
If you are suffering from chronic pain, look for an effective solution to fix lower back pain. Contact Azalea Orthopedics in East Texas to book an appointment for different treatment methods to help lower back pain relief alternatives to surgery. Depending on the severity of your chronic pain and location, the team at Azalea in their different clinic locations will recommend a suitable treatment solution.
