Back Pain
Back pain is the second leading cause of lost days from work. It is second only to the common cold. Your lower back is essentially the core of your physical self and therefore, when severe pain attacks this area, it can be debilitating and affect everything you do in everyday life. Playing golf, catch with the kids, riding rides at the amusement parks, swimming, horseback riding, dancing, skating, skiing, jogging, working out, aerobics, yoga, any kind of sports, and even cooking are some of our favorite things to do that will be affected by back pain.
Common Back Pain Symptoms:
- Constant aching or stiffness anywhere along your spine, from the base of the neck to the hips
- Sharp, localized pain in the neck, upper back, or lower back (especially after lifting heavy objects or performing other strenuous activity
- Chronic ache in the middle or lower back (especially after sitting or standing for extended periods)
- Pain in the back that branches out from the low back to the buttock, down the back of the thigh, and into the calf and toes
- Inability to stand straight without having severe muscle spasms in the low back
The most common issue related to back pain would be injured or degenerative disc disease. This is also can be referred to as a herniated disc or bulging disc. Lumbar radiculopathy, which is a painful condition that involves leg or lower extremity pain due to a compression or irritation of the nerves as they exit the spine (commonly known as a pinched nerve), can also develop. This can come about either through injury or the repetitive stress of everyday living and lack of physical fitness. When injury to a disc is severe, surgical intervention may be necessary. However, the vast majority of the time there is a much more conservative solution.
Some other causes are: disk herniation, bone spur (osteophytes) from osteoarthritis, thickening of surrounding ligaments, tumor or infection, scoliosis, diabetes.
Back Pain Treatment and Management
At BACAS our first objective would be to determine the origin and severity of your condition. This can be ascertained through a thorough history, physical examination and through diagnostic testing. Once the issue has been more clearly detailed, a strategy to address the symptoms can be employed. This may involve an invasive pain management procedure such as a selective nerve root block, an epidural steroid injection, facet injections or some other type of pain management technique.
These measures can be utilized to safely and effectively provide the patient with long term relief of their symptoms.
Contact us today and get on the path to freedom from pain.
