Almost 65 million people in the United States report experiencing a recent back pain episode, with around 16 million Americans experiencing chronic or persistent back pain issues.
Not only does back pain keep you feeling uncomfortable throughout the day, but these symptoms can take a toll on your ability to function at work, at home, and in extracurricular activities.
Are you one of the millions of people experiencing back pain frequently? If you live with chronic or severe symptoms, you might feel hopeless because general medical treatments aren’t working.
The good news is that local pain clinics specialize in services to help patients with chronic pain. In addition, alternative treatments can help you feel better – and regain optimism about the future once again.
How Much Is Back Pain Costing You?
Recent reports suggest that back pain is the 6th most expensive condition in the US due to healthcare expenses and indirect costs (such as missed work and disability payments).
For example, an estimated 83 million workdays are lost annually because of people who call in sick due to back pain. These missed days not only affect the employer, but employees are often accepting reduced paychecks because of the lower number of hours worked each week.
Employees who show up while in pain are also less productive due to work limitations.
While it might seem like an unnecessary cost to pay for medical services to treat back pain, these treatments can be viewed as an investment. Alleviating the pain is essential to help you manage your life and stay productive at work and at home.
Developing Options for Back Pain Treatments
You don’t need to continue “living” with back pain. But unfortunately, too many patients experience subpar results with general practitioners and assume that they’ve exhausted all treatment options.
In recent years, pain specialists have learned a lot about pain and how these issues can be managed using a combination of lifestyle adjustments and alternative medicine. The result: pain management can help you feel either partial or complete pain relief.
Pain Management Solutions: Talk to a Local Pain Clinic
It’s no surprise that chronic pain is challenging to treat, especially since each patient has a unique experience and symptoms. Often, chronic back pain evolves over time, making it feel like you are chasing a moving target.
Pain management is a specialty in the medical industry that combines healing arts and science to study pain and implement treatments for rehabilitation.
For chronic lower back issues, pain management can serve a variety of purposes using non-surgical interventions to promote healing and relief. When you meet with a pain management specialist, services encompass a range of goals:
- Identifying the root cause of the pain
- Implementing a non-surgical treatment plan
- Determining whether surgical interventions are necessary
- Patient rehabilitation after injury or surgery
- Helping patients cope with ongoing pain
Treatment Solutions for Low Back Pain
The good news is that all treatments from a pain clinic are based on scientific research for addressing chronic pain issues. Some of the treatment methods have been proven in clinical trials, while other treatments are still in the experimental phases.
All treatments are alternative solutions to the typical approach of using pain medication. Patients who don’t want to rely on prescription pain killers can benefit from pain management services.
The field of pain management continues to develop, with new treatments being discovered every year. Techniques might include:
- Therapy, including physical therapy or occupational therapy services, supports optimal physical function without invasive interventions. These therapies improve a patient’s function while also increasing strength, flexibility, and function – which can help to reduce pain symptoms.
- Pain medications are used at times, especially to reduce immediate pain while other treatments are being implemented. Different types of medications might also be used, such as antidepressants, muscle relaxants, or neuromodulating medications if nerve (neuropathic) pain is affecting the patient.
- Injections target local areas of inflammation, providing a range of results depending on the injection location and the patient’s symptoms. Injections offer delivery of anesthetic or steroids into the affected muscles, ligaments, joints, or around the nerves.
- Other modern therapies include different types of treatments such as radiofrequency, implanted electrotherapy devices, implanted infusion pumps, and more.
One of the benefits of injections is that the doctor can confirm the source of pain based on the effectiveness of the injection. When temporary relief occurs, the doctor has a better idea of what needs to be targeted to improve treatments.
Lifestyle and Medication Interventions Combined
Not only does a pain specialist provide medical treatments to address current pain issues, but they also offer a comprehensive approach to correct lifestyle issues.
Chronic pain is the body’s way of communicating that something is wrong – and a pain management doctor works with each patient to get to the root cause.
For example, are there activities you are participating in each day that are contributing to the inflammation and irritation in the lower back area? In addition, seemingly small lifestyle modifications, such as improving work ergonomics, can add up over time to offer ongoing relief.
Why a Pain Management Specialist Is Unique
Talking to a pain management specialist is a different experience than meeting with a general physician. Pain management is a relatively new specialty, with health professionals in many other fields completing specialized training to focus on pain management specifically.
Most of the time, patients meet with a pain management specialist through a referral from their primary care physician. But you also have the option to reach out to a pain management clinic directly if you know that you need specialized services for the treatment of chronic or severe back pain.
Since pain management is a multidisciplinary approach, it makes sense that there are pain specialists with a variety of backgrounds:
- Anesthesiology
- Physiatry
- Physical Therapy
- Interventional Radiology
- Psychiatry or Behavioral Science
Often, pain management specialists focus on the physical structures in the back that contribute to pain. But when there is no diagnosable condition, a therapist or behavioral science expert can be a good resource to address the contributing psychiatric factors.
Consult with a Pain Management Specialist
Will pain management be effective for your symptoms? Each situation is unique, which is why there isn’t a one-size-fits-all approach for the treatment plan. The best way to get started is by consulting with a pain management expert so you can discuss your individual situation.
Our team at Kentuckiana Pain Specialists is here to assist with all types of chronic pain. Learn how you can benefit from our comprehensive pain management solutions, with a variety of alternative treatments to address severe and chronic pain. We are located in the Louisville, Kentucky, area. You’re always welcome to call our office at (502) 995-4004.