Managing back pain
How long does back pain last?
The most common fear following a spinal injury or when suffering an onset of back pain is that the injury will cause permanent disability. However, much like musculoskeletal injuries throughout other areas of the body, with the right treatment back pain should very rarely cause a longer term problem.
Generally, initial healing times for injuries are four to six weeks but injured tissues may take as long as six months to reach their full strength. When suffering with back pain the most important factors in preventing long-term disability is the appropriate use of painkilling medications which allow an individual to continue to move the spine normally.
In recent years it has been demonstrated that continuing with normal social and occupational activities in spite of suffering with back pain may reduce disability in the long term. If you are recovering from spinal surgery or a significant spinal injury, quitting smoking will also enhance recovery if applicable.
For individuals who are very concerned, feel depressed as a result of a spinal injury or back pain or who do not seem to be recovering from an episode of back pain after a few weeks it is sensible to seek advice from a qualified clinician.
Physiotherapy treatments for back pain
Although exercises will form an important part of back pain treatment, in some cases physiotherapists may use other treatment modalities to help relieve pain and improve underlying biomechanical faults.
In cases of acute pain, physiotherapists are able to provide advice regarding appropriate pain-relieving positions. In cases when severe muscle spasm may be contributing to the pain, physiotherapists may be able to reduce this spasm with manual techniques to the muscle groups affected. These techniques are often referred to as myofascial release techniques.
In persistent cases of back pain, myofascial release techniques may also be utilised to help improve muscle flexibility in conjunction with stretches. When the spinal joints themselves are affected with stiffness and need to be released, physiotherapists may use joint manipulation and mobilisation techniques to release the joints. Another common technique, termed trigger point release which involves directing intense pressure on tight areas if the muscle belly may be a useful way of reducing overactive muscle tone.
A less common form of joint and muscle stiffness which can emerge with spinal disorders may be due to tension within the neural tissue itself. This can occur due to a current or previous nerve root compression or a whiplash type injury. Physiotherapists may employ neural gliding techniques to treat this problem.
What is pain management and how does it help back pain?
Pain management departments provide a number of treatments for back pain which can be generally split in to interventions to relieve pain and interventions to help sufferers of persistent back pain cope with their existing pain levels more effectively.
Interventions to reduce back pain may involve a number of spinal injections. These may include epidural injections which delivers a powerful anti-inflammatory medicine in to the spinal canal to bathe all of the joints, soft tissue structures and nerves. More targeted injections include guided injections in to the facet joints or guided injections to block nerve root pain. In some circumstances where individuals may have got significant relief from a facet joint injection but the pain has returned a pain clinic may offer a facet joint ablation procedure achieved by heating the nerves which supply the pain signals to the relevant joints.
Get in touch
Circle has a dedicated team of back specialists and pain management consultants who can help you. Simply fill out the form on this page and one of the team will get in touch.
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