Who doesn’t suffer from back ache? Statistics say that more than four out of five people will experience back pain at some point in their lives. It is one of the commonest causes of visiting physicians. It can be very distressing and can hamper our daily lifestyle. Back pain can create anxiety, stress and can raise multiple questions in our head. Back pain has thousands of causes. Don’t be afraid. Know your body. Here we talk about the basics of back pain.
Back pain can occur due to
- Injury to the back from falling due to unsafe stairs
- Lifting heavy objects in the household, eg. like a bucket of water.
- Heavy weightlifting, heavy back exercises in the gym, excessive sports activities
- Abnormal postures of the body, during sleep, or while working for prolonged hours.
- Disc prolapse, Prolapsed Intervertebral Disc (PID/PIVD), Lumbar disc disease
- Deficiency of calcium or vitamin d in the body
- Weak bones, leading to collapse of the vertebral body in the back
- Osteoporosis
- Age related factors – old age
- Spondylosis, cervical spondylosis
- Infections of the spinal cord
- Tumors
Many a times, the back pain also radiates to other areas, or in simpler terms, travels from the back to other sites, like thigh, legs, neck etc.
For evaluation of back pain, one must visit a specialist. The specialist first takes history of the kind of back pain, examines the patients, formulates the possible causative factors of back pain in that particular patient, and then decides the investigations required for the patient. If you’ve been in a car accident and still suffering from back pain, it is recommended to take an auto injury therapy.
There are also some great things that you can do to protect yourself and others too, so it is helpful to have some first aid training and CPR Certification Arlington.
The investigations that mostly need to be done are
- X-Ray of the Back
- MRI of the Spinal Cord
- Blood investigations like Calcium, Phosphorous, Vitamin D levels, blood sugars apart from other routine investigations
But as mentioned already, the need of these varies from patient to patient.
The treatment also varies from patient to patient, and differs on the basis of the causes of back pain.
It includes medicines for nerve pain, joint pain, back exercises, physical therapy, cervical collar, immobilising devices, injections to block the nerves causing back pain. Many patients choose iv drip vitamins therapy to boost their immune systems in an effort to get sick less often.
Neurosurgery is also one of the options, depending on whether the candidate requires surgery and whether he or she is fit for the same. Another option would be Stem Cell Therapy, it targets the underlying source of pain without relying on medication and surgery, leading to increased function and mobility with a shorter recovery time than surgical options.
There are also Prolozone injections that can help with the regeneration of joints as well as reducing the pain.
Proper approach and management by a professional is mandatory in cases of back pain, as opposed to the common practice of just having pain killers and other over the counter medications, self medication not only harms but also delays the diagnosis of the exact disorder.
Consult a specialist for back pain! Do not ignore, and do not worry. You can see this here for more information.