- Anatomy of The Spine
- Back Pain in Children
- Caring for your Spine
- Emerging Spinecare Trends
- Evaluation of Spinal Disorders
- Exercise and The Spine
- Intervention - Spinal Disorders
- Intervertebral Disc
- Non Surgical Options
- Nutrition and Spinecare
- Options for Spine Treatments
- Pregnancy and Back Pain
- Prevalence of Spine Disorders
- Sleep and the Spine
- Spinecare Introduction
- Spinehealth and Disease
- Surgical Interventions
- Treatment with Medications
- Understanding Back Pain
Spinecare Topics
Understanding Back Pain
Low Back Pain
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Low Back Pain
Spinal manipulation is literally a
"hands-on" approach in which professionally licensed specialists (such
as chiropractors, osteopaths, and physical therapists) use leverage and
a series of exercises to adjust spinal structures and restore back
mobility. These specialists do not prescribe drugs or use surgery in
their treatment of low back pain.
When back pain does not respond to more conventional approaches, patients may consider the following options:
Acupuncture involves the insertion of needles the width of a human hair along precise points throughout the body. Practitioners believe this process triggers the release of naturally occurring painkilling molecules called peptides and keeps the body’s normal flow of energy unblocked. Clinical studies are measuring the effectiveness of acupuncture in comparison to more conventional procedures in the treatment of acute low back pain.
Biofeedback is used to treat many acute pain problems, most notably back pain and headache. Using a special electronic machine, the patient is trained to become aware of, to follow, and to gain control over certain bodily functions, including muscle tension, heart rate, and skin temperature (by controlling local blood flow patterns). The patient can then learn to effect a change in his or her response to pain, for example, by using relaxation techniques. Biofeedback is often used in combination with other treatment methods, generally without side effects.
Interventional therapy can ease chronic pain by blocking nerve conduction between specific areas of the body and the brain. Approaches range from injections of local anesthetics, steroids, or narcotics into affected soft tissues, joints, or nerve roots to more complex nerve blocks and spinal cord stimulation. When extreme pain is involved, low doses of drugs may be administered by catheter directly into the spinal cord. Chronic use of steroid injections may lead to increased functional impairment.
Traction involves the use of weights to apply constant or intermittent force to gradually “pull� the skeletal structure into better alignment. Traction is not recommended for treating acute low back symptoms.
When back pain does not respond to more conventional approaches, patients may consider the following options:
Acupuncture involves the insertion of needles the width of a human hair along precise points throughout the body. Practitioners believe this process triggers the release of naturally occurring painkilling molecules called peptides and keeps the body’s normal flow of energy unblocked. Clinical studies are measuring the effectiveness of acupuncture in comparison to more conventional procedures in the treatment of acute low back pain.
Biofeedback is used to treat many acute pain problems, most notably back pain and headache. Using a special electronic machine, the patient is trained to become aware of, to follow, and to gain control over certain bodily functions, including muscle tension, heart rate, and skin temperature (by controlling local blood flow patterns). The patient can then learn to effect a change in his or her response to pain, for example, by using relaxation techniques. Biofeedback is often used in combination with other treatment methods, generally without side effects.
Interventional therapy can ease chronic pain by blocking nerve conduction between specific areas of the body and the brain. Approaches range from injections of local anesthetics, steroids, or narcotics into affected soft tissues, joints, or nerve roots to more complex nerve blocks and spinal cord stimulation. When extreme pain is involved, low doses of drugs may be administered by catheter directly into the spinal cord. Chronic use of steroid injections may lead to increased functional impairment.
Traction involves the use of weights to apply constant or intermittent force to gradually “pull� the skeletal structure into better alignment. Traction is not recommended for treating acute low back symptoms.
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