Second Opinion: Back Pain

Back pain is the most common and recurrent type of pain in America and 80% of Americans will experience it sometime in their life time. A new study shows that for every year a person has back pain, their brain shrinks 10-20 years of normal aging. Its the second reason for doctor visits. Not to sound like the prophet of doom, but if you have had back pain in your life you have a really good chance of it coming back to bother you again and again. What will you do? Back pain can come from many causes and its important to figure out what the cause is before trying any treatment. The right treatment at the wrong time is still the wrong treatment.

Common causes of back pain that I see are disc issues, stenosis, arthritis, degenerative joint/disc disease, post surgical pain and nerve pain. New studies are showing that conservative pain care like spinal manipulation, acupuncture, nutrition, herbs and lifestyle can dramatically help these conditions feel better.

Like I tell my patients, what helps one person with back pain doesnt help another. Thats why we need to try as many things as possible and it might be a combination of things that gets the result you are looking for. You need to keep looking. If you stop at one or two things you might be suffering needlessly.

Manipulation for back pain has been shown effective, for some people this is also true if they have had pain for years or have not tried manipulation. A certain type of traction has been shown to be helpful for back and leg pain. In fact in about 75 quality studies on manipulation all found it now less effective than anything else and some showed it more effective than exercise, medication, acupuncture and massage. If you havent tried manipulation then you need to try it. If you had a bad experience with it then try another at least one more time. It doesnt help everyone but its worth a try.

I just said manipulation was better than acupuncture but now Im going to tell you that acupuncture helps acute low back pain and might help chronic low back pain. Ive definitely seen both. There are many forms of acupuncture, some more aggressive than others. I do the aggressive kind because I see good result with it. That just my opinion. Acupuncture should be tried for both types of back pain.

Vitamin D, Fish oils, devils claw and white willow have all recently been shown to help back pain. Many of these herbs and supplements are as good as or better than NSAIDS. And who would have though Vitamin D would help back pain. Many people with low back pain are deficient in Vitamin D and in several good international studies it show great benefit. It also showed to be helpful in fibromyalgia and slowing arthritis but thats another Second Opinion.

If you have back pain and your current treatment is not helping or causing undesirable side effects then please consider some of the proven remedies listed in this article. Not everything helps every person. You need to find what works for you.

Keep in mind this publication is meant solely to be informative and entertaining and not an alternative to proper medical diagnosis or treatment. Seek proper medical care if you have any symptoms.

And look for a Second Opinion next week.

Mark Testa, DC PC

DenverPainCare.com

DocTesta@hotmail.com

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Back Pain Facts?

There are several causes of back pain: mechanical causes, eg lumbar disc disorders; degenerative conditions, eg degenerative disc disease; inflammatory conditions, eg ankylosing spondylitis; infective causes, eg osteomyelitis; neoplastic causes, eg primary benign or malignant tumours; metabolic bone disease, eg osteoporosis; referred pain, eg from duodenal ulcer; psychogenic pain - originating in the mind rather than the body.

Back pain is one of humanity's most frequent complaints and does not usually reflect any underlying disease. However, anyone with back pain that does not improve after a few days should first consult a Physician, as back pain can sometimes indicate significant and serious conditions which might not otherwise be diagnosed. Back pain is very rarely a sign of a serious medical problem. It is however important that the treatable medical causes are identified early on.

Back pain affects 50 to 80 percent of people in the U.S. at some point in their lives. In any given year, 10 percent of adults experience back pain or other symptoms, such as limited mobility or stiffness. Each year, Americans spend an estimated $24 billion on treatments for back pain - not including missed time from work nor the emotional costs of enduring pain and not being able to participate in daily activities. Imagine what it would be like to have problems working, golfing or enjoying playtime with children!

Back pain can be mildly uncomfortable, excruciating or anywhere in between. It can start slowly, sometimes a result of poor posture, or come on suddenly because of injury. If your question is not answered here, please contact one of our information specialists. Back pain can last for a few short days or can linger for weeks, months and even years. Arthritis is a common form of back pain. The earlier arthritis is diagnosed, the more steps can be taken to reduce disability in the future. Other factors that aggravate back pain include suffering from stress, not getting enough sleep, being overweight, having poor posture or not being physically fit.

Back pain should not be considered a normal part of aging; it is a chronic condition that calls for similar lifestyle changes as diseases like arthritis and diabetes do.