BACK PAIN

Back Pain

Back pain is one of the most common medical ailments reported by patients. Most people will struggle with some kind of back pain at some point in their lives. The chance of having back pain increases as a person gets older.

Most of the time, the symptoms are temporary and will go away within a few weeks time. If your symptoms last longer than that, you could be dealing with a condition causing chronic back pain, and could require further treatment.

What is Chronic Back Pain?

Typically, a patient may be diagnosed with chronic back pain, if symptoms continue for more than 3 months. Several things can cause it. Chronic back pain could be related to your age, a disorder a patient was born with, trauma or severe injury. If back pain is caused by an age-related issue, we call that a degenerative condition.

Most of the time, if someone is struggling with back pain, it is in the Lumbar Region of the spine. That is the 5 vertebrae at the bottom of the spine – numbered L1 to L5 vertebrae. Symptoms could possibly present in the low back, butt and down one or both legs.
Conditions That Cause Back Pain
If the source of your back pain is related to your age, you could be suffering with one of the following conditions:

Lumbar Degenerative Disc Disease

Lumbar Spinal Stenosis

Lumbar Spondylosis

Another condition that can cause chronic pain, apart from traumatic injury or a birth condition, is Lumbar Facet Joint Syndrome. This can happen if the patient is repeatedly lifting heavy items or a repeated motion that can but stress on the Facet Joints in the vertebrae.

Sciatica, or Lumbar Radiculopathy, is another common potential source for back pain. This happens when a nerve is pinched in the low back.

If you are suffering with one of these conditions, an X-Ray, CT-Scan or MRI may be able to diagnose the problem and help your AVALA physicians decide the best ways to treat it.

TREATMENT OPTIONS FOR BACK PAIN

Imaging scans like X-Rays, CT Scans and MRI’s are useful tools in helping diagnose the conditions causing your chronic back pain. Other diagnostic tools may also be used. Once your physician knows what is causing the pain, they can present a list of treatment options that may be able to help.

Nonsurgical Treatment Options

Self-management techniques, such as physical therapy and prescription medication, are a beginning treatment. For more severe cases of chronic back pain, non-invasive treatments are also a possibility. Injections into the affected area, such as Facet Joint Injections, Lumbar Transforaminal Steroid Injections, and Medial Branch Blocks all involve direct treatment of the source of the pain. Many patients experience a great deal of relief from these procedures and, coupled with lifestyle self-management, can go a long way to minimizing future back pain.
Surgical Treatment Options

When nonsurgical treatment options have been exhausted, a more aggressive treatment of chronic back pain may be required. Pain Pumps, for example, offer relief by delivering medication directly to the source, blocking pain signals from reaching the brain. Spinal Cord Stimulators and the Vertifex Superion Implant are other effective surgical means of addressing back pain at the source, depending upon the type and severity of the issue.

Radiofrequency Ablation (RFA) is a minimally invasive procedure which disrupts the pain signal before it can reach the brain. This technique involves using electrical currents to disable nerve endings through the application of heat. RFA has been proven effective for those whose back pain is the result of facet joint issues, and has even been used to help those suffering from neck and shoulder pain, as well as certain types of headaches.

If back pain is interrupting your daily life, there is help available. Make an appointment with the highly-trained staff at AVALA Pain for a conversation about your options for treating these symptoms and getting back to enjoying your life.

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