Back pain can render people immobile or nearly disabled. This is especially true when the pain accelerates from normal pain to chronic levels.
Some study findings reveal that the majority of the American adult population struggles with back pain at some point in their lifetimes. When not addressed early, back pain can leave you disabled.
From pharmacological options, lifestyle changes, surgical procedures, injections, nutritional adjustments, and physical therapy and exercises, the list of treatment options is endless.
Different back pain treatments work distinctively for different people. This is because the root cause of back pain varies from one person to another. This article looks at some of the options you should explore in treating your symptoms.
Lower Back Pain can be treated with physical therapy
Pharmacological Options
This option of treating back pain entails the use of different medication types in different forms. These may come in form of tablets, suspensions and injections. The most common form of medication for back pain includes the Over-The-Counter, OTC pills like ibuprofen and paracetamol. While these may treat short-term mild back pain, they should not be sought after in isolation. This is because medication only seeks to treat the symptoms but does not tackle the underlying conditions.
Lifestyle Adjustments
Sometimes the incessant back pain you are experiencing could be because of bad lifestyle habits. These may include wrong sleeping positions, sitting at work desk for too long and slouching while cooking or doing dishes in the kitchen. Unless there are some underling conditions, your doctor may recommend change of these habits to healthier ones like adopting a side-to-side sleeping position and avoiding slouching situations to release pressure on the spine. At times, you may be administered with posture corrector devices to help bring the discs back to alignment with each other.
Nutritional Change
Some nutritional habits like eating too much of inflammatory foods work by worsening the back pain. Such foods also inhibit the effective recovery process from back pain. Being overweight also subjects your spine to pressure, something that can cause or worsen the pain. To combat this problem, your doctor might collaborate with a nutritionist to recommend healthier foods that support an accelerated recovery. You may also be subjected to a weight loss regimen to help release pressure on the spine.
Surgical Procedures
Though it should be sought after exploring all other viable options, surgical procedures can also be performed to address back pain. This is because their success is not always guaranteed and there are some side effects to deal with. They leave patients with a wound that can be infected and cause further problems. They also render you dependent on other medications and these come with their own side effects. The surgeries entail correcting the bulging discs by removing the material causing the issue.
Stress Management
Stress has been found to inhibit the effectiveness of any medication and treatment, not just for back pain, but other health problems. When stressed, some people find consolation in food and become overweight, something that worsens the symptoms. In addition, when stressed, people may not feel motivated to engage in physical, lifestyle and diet adjustments that support their recovery from back pain. To avert this, your doctor may refer you to a psychologist in a bid to deal with your source of stress so that you can recover from your symptoms and lead a happier life.
Other Treatments
Other forms of treatment that offer a safer alternative to medication and surgeries are cold and heat press and nerve stimulation. Cold press is used to ease pain by calming the inflamed spinal nerves while heat press is used to bolster circulation, which brings with it healing nutrients for back pain. Nerve stimulation is performed by passing mild electrical impulses on spinal nerves, thereby blocking pain signals from reaching the spine.
Hands-On Therapy
Another great alternative cure for back pain is the hands-on therapy. This entails the use of hands to manipulate the spinal cord, where lower back pain originates. This form of therapy encompasses things such as massage and chiropractic care. Massage aims to release the lower back of any tension that causes back pain. Chiropractic care on the other hand aims to release the spinal nerve from pressure by the bulging discs.
Issues not related to the back may at times cause back pain. This therefore means that your doctor can refer you to other specialists. They may also recommend to you more than one form of treatment, depending on your overall response to medication, genetic predisposition and the severity of your symptoms.