Understanding Back Pain
Back pain is one of the reasons most people miss work and frequent their doctor’s office. Although the pain may be excruciating and uncomfortable, it is not severe. Lowe back pain may be associated to the spinal cord, nerves, ligaments around the discs and spine, discs between the vertebrae, and the bony lumbar spine, pelvic internal organs, abdomen, and lower back muscles. Pain in the upper region may be linked to tumors in the chest, aorta, and spine inflammation.
Who is at risk of back injury
Although lower back injury can affect any person, it is usually more common in people between the age of 35 and 55. According to medical experts, the lower back injury is closely linked with the way the muscles, bones, and ligaments work with each other and how the connect.
Diagnosis
A general practitioner can diagnose lower back injury after doing physical examination, and asking the patient a number of questions. Scans are not necessary. If a doctor notices pain or injury in your back, he may order some further tests. And if the cause is because of an underlying problem, and pain continues for long, he may recommend deep scanning.
Issues with the tendon, nerve, disks, and other issues may need some imaging scan or x-rays to get to know to understand more of the condition.
X-rays can indicate issues with the bones and tell the doctor whether or not you have broken bones or arthritis. However, they cannot detect problems with the spinal cords, muscles or disks. On the other hand, CT scans or MRIs are ideal at identifying problems with tendons, tissues, blood vessels, nerves, bones, and muscles.
Bone scan is another method of diagnosing lower back pain. But it mainly focuses on compression fractures or bone tumors cause by osteoporosis. You may receive an injection into your vein. The doctor uses a tracer to collects elements in the bone to find out issues with the bone via a unique camera.
Medical Treatments
In most lower back pain cases, the pain stops on its own, but with home treatment and great care. Also, pain can be reduced by using over the counter painkillers or medication from back treatment online stores. You need to take enough rest, but not more than week. Excess rest can be counterproductive because they make the muscles weaker and this can cause severe back injury in the future.
Medication
Lower back injury that does not ease on its own, even with the help of over the counter painkillers may need a prescription of nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drug such as hydrocodone or codeine. Also, your healthcare provider may prescribe some narcotics, but only for a short while. Narcotics need some serious medical monitoring.
Physical therapy
The application of ice, heat, electrical stimulation and ultrasound and also a few muscle-release methods to your back as well as soft tissues can help reduce the pain.