There are many different causes of back pain.
It is of utmost importance to choose the most appropriate treatment for your back pain, as much as possible choosing the least invasive (least risky) treatment. For example, unless the pain is severe or debilitating, obviously due to fracture, bone cancer or something else of a severe nature, or causing impairment of organ function such as loss of bowel or bladder control, one should try home ice therapy first, followed by treatment with your chiropractor or physical therapist.
Only if such conservative approaches fail to elicit a favorable response should you consider evaluation and treatment by a pain control specialist. And only after pain control techniques fail should you consider surgery.
Of course, there are always exceptions to the rule and you should always be under the care and supervision of a professional who specializes in managing such conditions so that they can assist you in choosing the most appropriate and least invasive treatment options.
Doctors often prescribe a variety of exercises, diets, stretching exercises, etc. to relieve back pain. According to statistics, more than 200 million Americans suffer from back pain. Some patients endure surgery, while others find ways to minimize the pain through non surgical means.
Although short-term use of pain medication can be appropriate, and result in minimal risk, chronic use of pain medication often leads to damage to the gastrointestinal tract, the liver or the kidneys. If medication doesn’t alleviate the back pain within a few days, it is usually best to consult an expert such as your chiropractor or other back pain specialist.
Many people don’t realize that when they feel unready or unwilling to make a decision to seek alternative forms of care, they are actually making a decision to continue on their current path. Continuing to treat with drugs can lead to adverse drug reactions. Every year in this country 16,000 people die from taking non-prescription over the counter pain medications properly. This does not include drug overdoses or drug interactions. These 16,000 people die from gastrointestinal bleeding, which is a common side effect of non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDS). Over the counter medications are not without risk.
Even non-treatment is not without risk. Even assuming that your back pain is not caused by something serious and life-threatening, chronic pain results in three different types of depression. It also results in decreased physical activity, which can lead to weight gain, which in turn can lead to increased risk of diabetes and cardiovascular disease in addition to other diseases. Choosing to not seek appropriate care is still making a choice; and it is a choice that carries its own risks.
Back pain is one of the prime reasons that employees call in to work sick. Back pain related conditions cost approximately $60 billion dollars annually for treatment and time lost at work. Perhaps more importantly however, consider the costs of a life not fully lived. Consider the costs of not being able to do things with the ones you love as a result of chronic back pain.
While a considerable number of people recover fairly quickly from back pain without treatment, most recover much faster with appropriate treatment. Virtually all back pain sufferers find that they will continue to have recurrent episodes of back pain if they do not loose excess weight, engage in a regular routine of strengthening and stretching back exercises, modify their posture and work environment ergonomics and improve their posture while in bed.
When engaging in any “weight loss” program, keep in mind that what you are really after is not just weight loss, but fat loss. In order for such a program to be effective, your body composition must be regularly assessed throughout the program in order to insure that you are losing fat weight and not muscle weight.
The best programs are conducted by physicians certified in body composition management such as FirstLine Therapy™ certified practitioners, and assist the patient not only in loosing fat weight, but also excess water weight, and in addition assist the patient in gaining additional muscle mass.
Our culture tends to focus a lot of attention of “quick fixes”, so that is why most people attempt weight loss instead of fat loss and healthy body composition. That is also why so many professionals and non-professionals alike think that over the counter pain medication is the only appropriate treatment of chronic back pain. Patients adhering to this type of advice never get the quality of care for their back pain that they truly deserve and sadly, often live a life of chronic pain, decreased vitality and lost opportunities due to the lack of appropriate treatment.
A life of chronic pain often leads to drug addiction and alcoholism, as the victims of chronic pain self medicate the depression caused by chronic pain. This of course just leads to more problems.
If you have back pain that does not respond well to self care within a few days, seek professional help, choose a course of care that is at first minimally invasive, and refuse to settle for a life of chronic pain. You deserve better than that. Accept responsibility for your own health by optimizing your body composition, engage in back stretching and strengthening exercises, and be attentive to your waking and sleeping posture. And perhaps most importantly, work with a doctor that supports you in these efforts.
