Back Pain Treatments and Drugs
When the physician has diagnosed your back problem, then the next step is for him to create a treatment plan for you. Sometimes your treatment plan may entail more than one procedure to treat your condition most effectively. Your treatment plan may entail, for example, a combination of regular massages, physical therapy and prescription medications to make it maximally effective.
The kind of treatment you will be getting for your back pain will be based on the cause and severity of the pain. One of the most common procedures for back pain is medication which quickly relieves your pain albeit transitorily.
Prescribed Medications for Back Pain
Prior to prescribing your medications, the doctor will need to know the other medications you’re presently taking. This is important to help him prescribe to you other drugs that will not harmfully interact with your other medications.
Opioids – Opioids are given for severe types of back pain. These kinds of drugs like morphine are administered under a physician’s careful supervision and are used to manage chronic pain.
Anti-depressants – Antidepressants work by blocking pain receptors from reaching your brain.
These are effective pain blockers that are used to relieve chronic back pain.
Muscle relaxants – If you are suffering from chronic back pain caused by muscle spasms, then relaxing these muscles is one way to relieve this type of pain.
Over-the-Counter Medications for Back Pain
Over-the-counter drugs are also useful in relieving many types of back pain and are ideal for the treatment of acute back pain.
Non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs or NSAIDs – Aspirin and ibuprofen are the most common forms of these drugs and they are good at reducing not only pain but inflammation as well.
Acetaminophen – This type of drug, Tylenol being one example, is good at relieving body pain including back pain; however it is useless at addressing inflammation.
Spinal Injections for Back Pain Treatment
Spinal injections are other effective ways to give relief for back pain.
Epidural steroid injection – This is a powerful injection that delivers steroids to battle inflammation of the nerve root. The doctor usually administers two or three injections to the affected part of the back. Three injections is usually the maximum dose since side effects can develop if more than three is given.
Other injections – These can include facet joint injection for the relief of spinal arthritis pain, mechanical back stress or back injury pain.
Other Treatments for Back Pain
Spinal injections and medications are the most common conventional treatments for back pain. Other alternative back pain treatments that can prove just as effective to address your back pain include:
- Exercise – This exercise can involve stretching or light walking. They are very effective relievers of back pain and can make the back strong and healthy. They also enable you to manage your back pain effectively and prevent it from worsening.
- Spinal bracing – The use of a spinal brace is to protect a spine suffering from, say, spinal fracture from worsening. It helps to control back pain by curtailing unnecessary and extreme movements and to stabilize your spine.
- Physical therapy – Physical therapy or PT for short, adopts various kinds of techniques to address back pain. These therapies include the use of cold and hot therapies among many others.
- Chiropractic care – This is a specialized form of spinal cord treatment that addresses many kinds of back pain and back problems and safeguards the back from worsening its already bad condition.
- Alternative therapies – Some of the most effective alternative back pain treatments include physiotherapy to help relieve muscle pain and inflammation.
- Acupuncture – Acupuncture involves the use of sterilized and very thin non hollow needles inserted at certain points in the body. Many back sufferers have reported long term pain relief from their acupuncture therapy.
- Yoga – Yoga has many poses and postures and basically all of them involve relaxation techniques and breathing exercises. Studies have shown that yoga provides back pain sufferers some kind of relief from their pain.
If all these treatments prove unfruitful in addressing your back pain, one other radical form of treatment you can try is back surgery. It is up to your doctor to decide whether this course of action is really needed for your condition.
It is always important to talk about all your treatment choices with your doctor so you may choose the best treatment plan for yourself.