Lower back pain can cause inconveniences to patients by limiting their ability to engage in activities they enjoy or get work done efficiently. Although there are various causes of lower back pain in Livingston, it is more important to rule out the more severe things which can give rise to back problems such as cancers, infections, inflammatory problems, or trauma. Often, people present their back problems to the specialist, who first rule out the more severe issues.
What are the risk factors for lower back pain?
Certain factors will give rise to lower back pain. For example:
- Age: Patients over 50 are at higher risk of lower back pain because their bones are more vulnerable to injury or stress.
- Sedentary lifestyle: Failing to exercise and maintain an active lifestyle can cause your spine to degenerate and become painful, especially after engaging in strenuous activity.
What are the Treatment Options for Back Pain?
Most doctors recommend that patients start with simple measures, such as encouraging them to remain as active as possible. Some patients would benefit from physiotherapy, which will take different forms in terms of engagement. Usually, as a preliminary, doctors show patients exercises to do themselves and offer them leaflets to take home. If that does not work, the physiotherapists often become more involved in regularly taking the patients through exercise sessions.
More invasive treatments of lower back pain include injections that direct specific drugs that will relieve pain and eliminate secondary symptoms like swelling. Patients with chronic pain that is starting to interfere with their own space and other aspects of their day-to-day life, for example, resulting in time off work or time away from friends, need special care. Because they cannot go out, a more combined approach through physiotherapy and psychological treatments can help them develop coping strategies to deal with their back pain.
The use of simple over-the-counter medications, such as paracetamol and anti-inflammatory medications, can help control the pain. At the same time, the patient gets on with their daily activities as best they can.
Sometimes patients have that back pain for a while in association with leg pain, secondary to a disc herniation or a slipped disc: This can present as an emergency in scarce circumstances where the nerve supply to the bowels and the bladder is at risk. In this situation, surgery is necessary to deal with leg symptoms, safeguard the patient’s bowel and bladder function, and prevent long-term disability.
There are also instances where you can have mechanical back pain due to developmental problems with the spine that can then go on to cause leg symptoms as well. So in these sorts of instances, surgery is appropriate to deal with the mechanical problems around the spine and address the legs symptoms simultaneously. This procedure is called spinal fusion. Nowadays, the fusion process involves scaffolding metal on the spine to provide stability and help the spine fuse and help with the pain.
Contact SamWell Institute for Pain Management to schedule an appointment and find out which treatments options can help improve your symptoms.
