5 ways to treat back pain without surgery
Almost 80% people experience back pain at least once in their lifetime. Though back pain is very common, it can be challenge for the doctors to find out exact cause for the back pain which leads to temporary relief of back pain causing frustration, anxiety, and depression in patients. This leads to getting multiple investigations being done leading to financial burden.
Common pain generators in back are
1) Muscles- these are the most common pain generators in back. Muscles can cause back pain either individually or secondarily due to underlying disc or joint related issues
2) Disc – the herniated or prolapsed disc can cause pain either only in back or sciatica like pain
3) Facet joints- as the age progresses these small joints in back are prone to degeneration as any other joint in the body. In younger age group, these joints may be affected due to wrong posture, injury, or autoimmune arthritis
4) Ligaments - wrong posture or injury can cause sprain of ligaments and further pain
5) Nerves- Spinal stenosis (narrowing of spinal canal) can lead to pressure on nerves
6) Bones -vertebral fractures can occur spontaneously in old age
In some cases, it may be difficult to find out the exact pain generator. It is important not to make rushed decisions or undergo extensive medical procedures until the origin of the pain is found. Not only may they not help; they could make the pain worse.
Here are the 5 ways to treat back pain without surgery
1) Physiotherapy exercises: This the mainstay of back pain treatment. Same exercises do not work for all the patients. It is important to get physiotherapy done after guidance from your pain specialist.
2) Weight reduction: Maintaining healthy weight can offload the spine and reduce the pain. Following certain dietary guidelines can help achieve healthy weight like low fat diet, no processed food, no refined sugars.
3) Ultrasound guided dry needling: Muscles are the common final expressors of pain- be it disc or facet joint. Its important to treat muscles to have long term effect of any intervention. In ultrasound guided dry needling, fine solid needles are put in the muscles which are in spasm. This treatment is carried out in sessions. It usually requires 8-10 sessions for the pain to disappear. It reduces the pain and disability.
4) Injections: Few patients may require injections like epidural injections, selective nerve root blocks, caudal injection, facet joint injections, SI joint injections etc.
5) Radiofrequency ablation: In this treatment, specialized needles are placed near painful nerve under X ray guidance and temperature of 80-90 deg Celsius is generated. It blocks the pain sensation. It relieves the pain for 1-2 years.
