What the X-Rays Show

Usually, if the doctor decides he or she needs to actually look at the bones of the spine, an X-ray is ordered.  But even if you get an x-ray that doesn’t mean you’ll suddenly have all the answers.  The x-ray can only show bones and not muscles, tendons or ligaments.  So if your back pain is not due to broken bones, slipped vertebrae  or other bone problems the x-ray is pretty much useless.  Some doctors just skip right to the MRI or CAT scan instead.

Taking x-rays has been such a routine practice for so long now it’s probably ordered sometimes more out of habit.  As the new procedures become more widely used I would expect the x-ray to be used less and less for back pain diagnosis purposes.    Of course, x-rays are good from the viewpoint they are often done right in the doctors’ offices now, are painless and give speedy results.  Just don’t be too disappointed when you don’t find out the first trip what’s causing your pain.

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.

An MRI Anyone?

It seems like every time I watch the news concerning healthy living updates I hear the acronym MRI.   It’s treated in people’s mind like it’s an X-ray, but it really is something completely different.  People with back pain often get an MRI when the doctor is trying to figure out what’s causing the problem.  An MRI shows a lot more than an X-ray.

MRI actually stands for Magnetic Resonance Imaging.  It uses radio waves and a magnetic field to create a clear picture of your spine.  Some people don’t like to get an MRI, because you have to lie still in a long tube that’s open at both ends.  It can be hard to handle if you have any claustrophobia.  The newer machines are now made with some added features such as music intended to be distracting.  The MRI can be a real important test when trying to diagnose the source of back pain.  If the doctor wants you to have one, you should agree because it gives a lot more information about soft tissue which doesn’t show up on X-rays.

Explain the Difference

There’s a difference between a bulging disc and a herniated disc.  The disc, if you remember, is the cushion between vertebrae in your spine.  A bulging disc is a disc that pushes out but doesn’t actually rupture the wall of the disc.  A herniated disc is a disc that bulges toward the back of the spine and it does break through the disc wall.  The outside wall of the disc is called the annulus fibrosis.

The back pain you feel with a herniated disc is due to the disc pressing on a nerve.  You can actually feel the pain in your legs if it’s a lower back vertebrae that presses on the nerves that runs down your legs.  Most herniated discs happen in the lower spine or lower back.  When the sciatica nerve is pressured by a herniated disc, the pain can be intense all the way down the leg.  There are lots of things the doctor can potentially recommend you do to relieve the pain. You can do exercises to strengthen the back, take anti-inflammatory medications or get steroid injections for example.

I’m In So Much Pain!

The doctor labels pain according to how long it lasts and how often it occurs.  They do this so they can determine which is the best diagnostic tool and the best treatment to use.  The categories can get a little blurry at times though.  For example, acute pain can be recurrent pain.

The first kind of pain is acute pain. Acute pain is pain that usually lasts less than one month.  The level of pain depends upon what caused the pain. The worse the injury, the more it hurts.  Chronic pain is pain that lasts longer than 3 to 6 months.  You don’t even have to have an injury still healing for the pain to continue.  Intermittent or recurrent pain is acute pain that happens over and over again.

There are lots of pain therapies used for the different levels of pain.  You can do some at home while others require a doctor.  When you go to the doctor, he or she is going to classify your pain after getting a history or your pain episodes.

Mystery of the Herniated Disc without Pain

A bulging disc is when the spongy material between vertebrae extends out.  It’s usually caused by too much pressure that’s been put on the spine causing excessive compression.  There are lots of nerves that run out from the disc, so when the disc bulges near one of the nerves, pain develops.  The pain isn’t necessarily in the back though.  The pain can run down the nerves and end up making your legs or even your arms hurt.

The fact is though, you can have a herniated disc and not have any pain. You can actually have a bulging disc that doesn’t affect a nerve and so there’s no pain.  The indications you have a back problem include other things like tingling and numbness in the legs.  So don’t think you have to have pain when you have a bulging or herniated disc.