Your Options for Chronic Back Pain

A lot of people suffer from chronic back pain. There are several causes of severe lower back and hip pain. The good news is that there are many ways to treat it with varying costs and effectiveness. The first step in treating back pain is undergoing a chronic back pain differential diagnosis. This helps identify the right treatment plan for your pain. One way to treat such pain is by booking an appointment with a chiropractor.

A chiropractor has the know-how in various aspects of treating back pain. These professionals are experts in identifying the common causes of backaches. Chiropractic care is often the best way to treat back muscle strain due to its flexibility and convenience.

It has good safety records and excellent success rates in treating cases of chronic lower-back injuries without surgery. Another option to treat back pain is physical therapy. There are several active techniques for treating chronic back pain. They include physiotherapy, massage, and exercise. These active treatments are relatively effective at treating back pain. Another treatment option for back pain is surgery. If your condition is more severe and you become incapacitated by the pain, you might require spinal fusion surgery. The option can be more expensive than other conservative treatments.

Herniated disc anatomy

Anyone who has ever had back pain understands how debilitating it can be. The pain from the back can affect your physical health, preventing you from working out frequently. It can affect your social relationships, as you are often in too much pain to want to do anything. It can affect your work or school careers, forcing you to miss many days from extreme pain. It can even affect your sleep, preventing you from finding a comfortable sleep position and waking you in the middle of the night. Back pain affects so many parts of our life. It is the most common reason for medical visits, and yet, most back pain sufferers do not get the relief they need.

Most cases of back pain are mechanical or non organic, meaning they are not caused by serious conditions, such as inflammatory arthritis, infection, fracture or cancer. Americans spend at least $50 billion each year on back pain, and that is just for the more easily identified costs. There are likely to be many more costs associated with the chronic pain that is common in back pains. For the conditions that are serious and chronic, these patients may be left with no pain treatment options. They may be forced to take harmful pharmaceuticals to even function normally.

Fortunately, there are a few procedures available for those who suffer with chronic back pain. Chronic spine issues might include a variety of disc and bone problems. Many of the surgeries that are available, such as artificial disc replacement and stem cell therapy involve these areas of the spine. Spine specialists must first identify that the problem is in the spine. Chronic spine issues may be hard to diagnose without traditional testing measures.

Artificial lumbar disc surgery is an alternative to spinal fusion surgery, a common operation performed on about 200,000 people a year with degenerative disc disease in the lumbar spine (lower back). Chronic spine issues do not necessarily qualify you for artificial lumbar disc surgery. After chronic spine issues are identified, a spinal specialist may try regenerative therapy and other treatments. Eventually, they may recommend artificial disc replacement. To be considered an artificial lumbar disc surgery candidate, you must have disc degeneration in only one disc in the lumbar spine between L4 to S1 or L3 to S1, a minimum of 6 months of conservative treatment, such as physical therapy, pain medication, or back bracing, without showing improvement, overall good health, and no known cobalt, chromium, molybdenum, polyethylene or titanium allergies. If a person meets all of these criteria, they may be a candidate for the artificial disc replacement surgery.

Although procedures like this might help reduce pain in chronic back pain sufferers, they will still need to take caution when it comes to their backs. Following a spinal fusion or an artificial disc replacement surgery, the individual will need to take great care in back care. They will need to incorporate a regular exercise routine into their daily life. They will need to be careful about which exercises they do. They will also need to be careful about further surgeries, always identifying the doctors of the replacement surgery.

Chronic back pain is common today. Some people may experience chronic back pain from mechanical issues, while others may have more serious causes. Regardless of the causes, chronic back pain can severely affect someone?s quality of life. Their job, school, family life, social life and exercise abilities may all be affected. Some surgical treatment options may be available to those patients who qualify. Artificial disc replacement, for example, may be available for those with degenerative disc disease who have not shown any improvement with other treatment methods. It is important that someone who chronic back pain consistently work with their medical team to explore all of their treatment options.

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