Acute Back Pain
It is a fact that back pain is the most common medical complaint in all of humanity and almost 90% of all American's suffer from back pain at some point in their life. Acute and chronic lower back pain are the fifth most common reasons for all doctor visits in the United States, professionals estimate that 5 out of every 10 working adults suffer from some degree of back pain each year.
The Back
The back is a complex network of joints, muscles, tendons, ligaments, and nerves that are interconnecting, and capable of producing pain. Some of the large nerves that originate in the spine go to the arms and legs, this can also cause pain to radiate into to the extremities. When back pain is felt it may result from a sudden onset it may be chronic; it can be constant or intermittent, it may stay in one place or move to other areas. Back pain can be divided into four different sections: Cervical (neck pain), Thoracic (upper back), Lumbar (lower back), or Pelvic (tailbone pain). The pain in these areas may be a burning sensation, a sharp or piercing pain, or even a burning sensation. It may also include symptoms other than the pain itself, there could be numbness or a tingling sensation, weakness in the legs, headaches, and others that we will discuss as we get into more detail. However, most back pain is not serious enough to seek immediate medical attention and results mainly from inflammation.
Acute Back Pain
Acute pain is described as pain that usually last from two to six weeks, this is providing there are no serious underlying conditions. Almost everyone at some point in their life will experience acute back pain, its not that uncommon. Most often attacks of acute back pain are the result overstreched muscles or ligaments, and are better known as strains or spains. In most cases, pain resulting from strains or sprains can be resolved with a conservative course of treatment. Identify the cause of the pain, alleviate it, and avoid re-injury, these are the key steps to healing and recovery.
Most often acute back pain results from strenuous activity such as sports injury or falls, bending forward for long periods of time, accidents, and improper lifting. However, pain can result from poor posture, sleep positions or pillow placement, poor bed quality, or even carrying a heavy purse or briefcase. There are several websites that can give you more information on how to treat and prevent these type of injuries such as
www.webmd.com . This is a great source of information and gives alot of tips on how to identify and treat minor injuries from home.
Non-Medical Treatment Options
* Physical Therapy - may include stretching and exercises that can be done from home or with the assistance of a therapist. This treatment can or may last from several months to only a few weeks.
* Cold or Hot Compresses - cold compresses assist in reducing swelling while a hot compress will help stimulate circulation to the area of pain.
* Limited Bed Rest - likely requires a recommendation from a doctor if you are employeed. This treatment consist of time at rest, this allows your body to heal and recover from the damage that has resulted from your injury. It's very important that you not spend to much time in bed as it can actually worsen back pain make you weaker.
Medicinal Treatment Options
* Over-The-Counter - this usually involves self medicating, normally consisting of treatment with Acetaminophen, Ibuprofen, Naproxen, or Asprin.
* Antibiotics - require you to visit a doctor, they may be prescribed if your pain is being caused by an infection or severe inflammation that needs medication for treatment.
* Narcotic Pain Medications - this treatment requires a prescription and is the least prefered by doctors, narcotic pain medications can be highly addictive and can also block pain to the point where you can further injure yourself without knowing it. They are used to reduce swelling, relax muscles, and relieve pain. The most commonly prescribed pain medications are Vicodin, Percocet, Hydrocodone, Codeine, Morphine, and Oxycontin.
* Epidural - is a combination of anesthetics and steroids, they are injected into the back and are only used to relieve severe types of back pain. This is not a likely option for someone who is having short term acute pain but has been used in the past.
Surgical Options
If all of the treatments listed above are unsuccessful and your pain persist, you may need to be referred to an orthopedist or neuroseurgon. This is usually not the case but may be an option if nothing else has worked, this once again is not likely with acute pain but may be an option. This should definately be your last resort and only after all other course of treatment has been considered.
* Fusion Surgery - this is a type of surgery where the joins two or more vertebrae in the spine are are fused ( joined together ) to prevent the movent of painful joints.
* Intradiscal Electrothermal Therapy - this called an IDET for short, this type of treatment is used to hermetically seal any bulging discs or fluid leaks in between the vertebrae.
* Laminotomy - this type of procedure consist of the doctor/surgeon removing a small piece of bone from the vertebrae. This is know to assist in relieving pressure on the nerves of a herniated or bulging disk. In the most severe cases it may even require removal of a portion of the disk.
* Laminectomy - in this type of surgery a large portion of the vertebrae is removed. Usually the part that has to be removed has formed bone spurs, these are know to irritate and cause severe pain.
Remember to always listen to your body, any time there is a problem or you feel there is something wrong you should speak to your doctor. Most acute back pain will go away within a reasonable amount of time, do not use any information in this website as a substitute for a doctors professional opinion. Use good judgment and always follow your doctors advice. There is no substitute for the advice of a true medical professional.
Resources for Treatment of Acute Back Pain
The following sites are excellent resources for information on how to relieve and treat acute back pain.
* www.webmd.com
* www.healthinnation.com
* www.ninds.nih.gov
* www.back.com/articles-back_pain_relief.html
* www.aafp.com
* www.ifomt.org