How Come That Needle Doesn’t Hurt?

I like to try alternative forms of back pain treatment whenever possible.  Sometimes, the familiar stand-bys like analgesics or ice packs just don’t do the job of relieving the back pain.  Before I’d even consider having surgery, I’d look into all forms of treatment including acupuncture.

Acupuncture has been around for over 5,000 years.  It’s a Chinese treatment that believes we all have qi in our bodies.  This qi is a life force and it roams our body.  Acupuncture operates on the principle that certain points on our bodies give access to qi.  If you can access the life force, then you control the back pain.  Acupuncture actually uses a combination of physical and mental factors to give relief.  Needles are painlessly inserted at the qi points to stimulate healing.  Some people absolutely refuse to consider such a treatment, but in my opinion, it’s worth a try.  When you have chronic back pain even temporary relief can be a blessing.

Making It Permanent

Sometimes there’s no choice but to have surgery.  When two vertebrae don’t work properly at the joint, spine movement may cause unrelenting pain.  When nothing else works, the doctor may recommend spinal fusion.  Fortunately, this kind of surgery is getting to be less and less necessary as doctors learn more about the spine and causes of pain.  Also, the way the surgery is handled is changing.  It used to take long incisions and high risk cutting, but new technologies like microsurgery have made it possible to change the way a particular surgery is done.

By the way, a spinal fusion is where two vertebrae are fixed in place using a rod or some other surgical device.  Eventually it’s hoped the vertebrae will grow together.  A spine fusion can be considered a risky surgery in comparison to other surgeries.  It’s a last resort attempt many times to stop back pain.

I’m Not So Sure About This Surgeon

Picking a surgeon you trust your back to can be a traumatic decision.  We like to think all doctors are fully qualified and competent in their specialties, but we also all know it’s not true.  Your regular doctor will probably be the person who picks the first surgeon you see.  But it’s important to know you don’t have to stick with the surgeon your doctor picks if he or she fails to meet your expectations.  If you have any doubts at all about your surgeon, then you need to find another one.  You have the right to have your medical records transferred so it’s not like you’re starting all over again.  You should make sure you ask the surgeon any question on your mind.  A lot of people get shy around doctors or just accept everything they say without question.  Doctors are human too, don’t forget.  You need to feel completely comfortable with the person who will be operating on you.

It’s My Legs…Not My Back

Back pain can be a weird ailment.  You can have a bad back and the pain is in the legs.  By a bad back I mean there’s a problem with the spine that’s been identified as the cause of your problems.  But back pain can actually be more like butt pain, leg pain or even foot pain. That’s because the sciatica nerve runs from the spine to the toes.  Anywhere the nerve gets pinched, it’s going to send shooting pain down the length of the nerve.  It’s like an electrical cord that’s been plugged into the wall.

Many times surgery seems to be the best option when pain is running down both of your legs.  That indicates a problem in the lower back that starts in the spine which can be a bulging disc for example.  The important thing to remember is that you have to give the spine time to heal using other treatments before you can decide if the last resort surgery is justified.  It would be terrible to go through surgery on the spine only to find out you didn’t need it.

Okay, I’ve Chosen Surgery

Deciding whether to have back surgery can be a major decision. Everyone’s heard the war stories about surgeries gone wrong or surgeries that don’t result in less back pain. But the fact is that surgery is probably one of the best choices for permanent pain reduction when it’s clear what is causing the pain. You don’t ever have to feel forced to choose surgery unless there’s a chance of paralysis if you don’t have it. In that case, I can’t imagine choosing to avoid surgery.

The good news is that by the time you decide to have surgery, you’ve probably been through a complete battery of tests and have tried numerous other approaches to relieving your back pain. That means surgery has become the last alternative and appears to be the one that will work in your situation. I highly advise you to get a second opinion though no matter how good you think your doctor may be. The reason is because the cause of back pain can be so elusive. You certainly want to avoid surgery if it seems more like a guesswork solution.

Go Ahead and Pull the Trigger

One of the treatments for back pain is called a trigger point injection.  A trigger point injection is where anesthetic is injected into muscles to relieve back pain.  There can be more than one injection administered at a time.    The point of the anesthetic is to deaden the area surrounding the point where the pain seems to generate.

Another type of injection is the facet injection.  The facet joint is where two vertebrae meet and the joint enables you to use your spine for motion.  The facet injection usually is a steroid, but it can be an anesthetic too like the trigger point injection.  The difference is the facet injection is done on an outpatient basis using fluoroscopy.  Fluoroscopy enables the physician to watch where the injection is reaching in the joint.  You can only get temporary relief from pain of course.  Both injections are just treatments and not cures.

Be Thou Gone Oh Swelling!

If you have a muscle or back inflammation, it’s common for doctors to prescribe anti-inflammatories.  Of course, you don’t have to go to the doctor to get them, because common aspirin is one.  You can also take Aleve, Motrin or Advil and get some inflammation relief.  For these drugs to work you have to take them regularly to build up the drug in your system so it works regularly.  You shouldn’t start and stop anti-inflammatory drugs until the inflammation is reduced.

Though there are over the counter anti-inflammatory medicines, the doctor may decide to prescribe more powerful prescription drugs.  They are used in almost every kind of situation causing back pain.  You have to be careful about the dosage you take because they do have side effects.  For one thing they cause a decline in your blood clotting abilities.  If you use them for an extended period of time, be sure to have the doctor check regularly for kidney or liver problems.

Go Ahead and Shock Me

When I think of electrical stimulation I can’t help but think of the old Frankenstein movies.  Yet electrical stimulation is used as one of the treatments for back therapy.  Of course, it’s been given a long medical name which is Transcutaneous Electrical Nerve Stimulation or TENS.  It makes me want to ask which came first – the acronym or the name.

This is how TENS works.  A physical therapist uses special medical equipment that can dish up low level electricity directed to the muscle through electrodes on the skin.  The whole point of the treatment is to make your brain forget about pain for a while and think about the electrical stimulation.  This can be a great temporary solution, but it won’t last.  It’s good for those people who really need a break from the pain, but don’t consider it an answer to your back pain problems.

I Finally Feel Relaxed

A common medication prescription given for back pain is for muscle relaxants.  Muscle relaxants work well when your muscles are so tense they cause back pain.  What I didn’t realize is that science doesn’t know for sure how muscle relaxants work on the muscles.  They just know they can calm your nerves and make your brain send nice messages to your muscles instead of tense messages.

The problem with muscle relaxants is they can be addicting if you take them too long.  In essence they make you feel good and who doesn’t like feeling good?  If your back pain has been due to tense muscles causing muscle spasms, the muscle relaxants can help you learn to relax long enough for the muscles to calm down.  But you shouldn’t take this medication for longer than 2 or 3 weeks.  They don’t “cure” anything and you should learn to relax without drugs.  Muscle relaxants are just a way to get some temporary relief.

Special Brain Delivery

A massage is a great way to deal with back pain that’s due to sore or stiff muscles.  A good massage therapist can use a variety of techniques to relax tight muscles around the spine.   Tight or strained muscles are the cause of many back aches and muscle spasms.  A massage can soothe the tension right out of the muscles and spine.  In fact, much of what a chiropractor does during back therapy has massage elements.

A massage plays another important role in back pain therapy.  It makes you feel mentally relaxed in addition to physically better.  The doctors now believe that many cases of back pain are caused or worsened by mental anxiety.  Your brain sends messages down your spine telling your muscles to tense and your nerves to hurt.  A massage can make you feel calmer so the brain sends a very special delivery – one of peace and calm.  That sounds very good to me.