Back pain

Back Pain Causes

Back pain often occurs without any specific cause that can be identified. However, many conditions are linked to back pain causes which are mentioned below:

1. Occupational strain: This involves excessive bending and lifting weights, twisting or driving.
2. Lifestyle issues: This happens when the patient leads a sedentary lifestyle, gains weight and does not exercise.
3. Physical causes: Osteoarthritis, disc degeneration, fracture, injury, tumour or infection in the spine (rare condition)
4. Age factors: The pain is caused by osteoporosis, disc and joint degeneration, and soft tissue strain.
5. Medical conditions: Back pain is common in the case of pregnancy or obesity.

Back Pain Treatment

Pain can be temporarily relieved by hot and cold compresses. A proper diagnosis is important to provide the best back pain treatment. You have plenty of non-surgical treatment options to address back pain. However, a more holistic and long-lasting approach involves spine rehabilitation using :

1. Isolation Treatment with device-based therapy: The weak muscles and tissues are identified and treated in isolation. They are strengthened and degeneration is arrested.
2. Self-Care Exercise & Physical therapy: Exercises that strengthen your back and abdominal muscles, increases your flexibility should be practiced regularly. Other activities such as walking, cycling, swimming, etc can be done after consulting your doctor.
3. Posture correction or posture improvement is a vital step for back pain treatment.
4. Lifestyle changes such as engaging in physical activities, postural breaks, ergonomics correction
5. Professional diagnosis required
6. Chronic, can last for years

Back Pain Prevention

You can prevent back pain or avoid its recurrence by keeping your back healthy and strong. You should do the following to maintain your back and spine: –

1. Exercising regularly is a must. Do those exercises that increase your strength and endurance in your back and permits your muscles to function better. You can consult with your doctor about which exercises or activities you can and cannot do.
2. Consider doing abdominal and back muscle exercises that strengthen your core, conditions these muscles, builds muscle strength and flexibility.
3. Always maintain a healthy, correct posture while walking, standing, sitting, or bending. Do not slouch or hunch forward while sitting.
4. Try to maintain a healthy weight as excess body weight can strain your back muscles. A good posture can help reduce the stress on back muscles.
5. Avoid sitting in one position for a long time. Try changing your position at repeated intervals.
6. Avoid heavy lifting when possible. If you have to lift a heavy object then use your legs to do the work, keep your back straight and bend only at the knees.
7. Modify your lifestyle habits such as reduce or manage stress, quit smoking, switch to an active lifestyle than a sedentary lifestyle. Smoking is known to increase your risk of low back pain.

When to see a Spine specialist?

Sometimes, back pain isn’t a stand-alone pain and other symptoms may appear along with backache. If such symptoms occur, then you should consider visiting a spine specialist or doctor immediately and get suitable back pain treatment: –

1. Fever
2. A recent injury, ex: back pain from a fall
3. Weakness or numbness in one or both the legs
4. Bowel or bladder issues
5. Sudden, unexplained weight loss
6. Back pain that exists for over a few weeks and that doesn’t improve with rest.

Back Pain Diagnosis

Your physician will check your complete medical history and also conduct a physical examination to identify the root cause of back pain. Neurologic tests involving sensation and function assessment may be carried out to determine the root cause of pain and devise an appropriate treatment.

Function, reflexes, flexibility, and range of motion are assessed during movements like walking, bending forward and backward, etc. Besides, blood tests may be needed to look for signs of infection, inflammation, etc.

Often, it may become difficult to identify the exact cause of back pain, since there are so many reasons. If the cause is not clear, sometimes, you may be asked to get a few imaging tests to rule out specific causes of pain including tumors, etc. These tests are as follows:

1. X-ray
2. CT Scan
3. MRI
4. Myelogram
5. DSA

How QI Spine Diagnoses Back Pain?

Accurate diagnosis is essential to a proper back pain treatment program. As the doctors in Qi Spine are trained for several hours in spine conditions alone; they have the expertise to diagnose the cause of back pain accurately. A detailed medical analysis is carried out including pain history, your range of motion, and testing of nerves and muscles.