Back pain can be a mild annoyance that comes and goes or can be severe and debilitating. It may also be due to an underlying nerve or joint disease. Therefore it’s always important not to leave back pain untreated or undiagnosed especially if its going on for longer than a couple of weeks or if it is getting worse.
Working with a health practitioner who can assess and examine your range of motion, standing, sitting posture and lifting of legs with your full case history is important to determine the cause and level of your pain. Sometimes further testing techniques are necessary to gather more info about the cause and rule out problems with bones or discs.
- X-ray. These images show arthritis or broken bones. These images alone won’t show problems with the spinal cord, muscles, nerves or disks.
- MRI or CT scans. These scans generate images that can reveal herniated disks or problems with bones, muscles, tissue, tendons, nerves, ligaments and blood vessels.
- Blood tests. These can help determine whether an infection or other condition might be causing pain.
- Nerve studies. Electromyography (EMG) measures the electrical impulses produced by the nerves and how the muscles respond to them. This test can confirm pressure on the nerves caused by herniated disks or narrowing of the spinal canal (spinal stenosis).
Treatment
Most back pain gets better within a month especially for people younger than age 50. However, for many, the pain lasts several months. Pain relievers and the use of heat can help but continuing with your daily activities is important too. If home treatments aren’t working after several weeks, your health care provider might recommend stronger medications or other therapies such as acupuncture.
Medications
Medications depend on the type of back pain. They might include:
- Pain relievers. In functional medicine we can look at anti-inflammatory diets, herbal plants and or supplements that can help reduce inflammation like Curcumin, Omega 3 and Magnesium to help the muscles relax. We can use homeopathic injections such as Traumeel into the area or Spascupreel to help relieve the immediate spasm or pain.
- Muscle relaxants. Magnesium is the supplement of choice to help relax muscles.
- Topical pain relievers. These products, including creams, salves, ointments and patches, deliver pain-relieving substances through the skin.
- Antidepressants. Some types of antidepressants have been shown to relieve chronic back pain, if you are worried that anxiety and mood can be at the root cause of your back pain then addressing the stress by assessing blood cortisol testing or using natural mood balancers like 5HTP or St John’s Wort could be considered.
Physical therapy
A physical therapist can teach exercises to increase flexibility, strengthen back and abdominal muscles, and improve posture. Pilate’s type exercises tick all of these as long as you don’t work through sharp pain but rather move slowly with control during the exercises. A good instructor can help ensure the correct training and provide education about how to modify movements during an episode of back pain to avoid flaring pain. Sometimes a sequence of 15 min of exercises may be all you need to avoid invasive therapies as long as you are consistent with the exercises. In my practice, on more than one occasion exercise has proven to be the cure, saving my patients from undergoing back surgery.
Acupuncture treatment
During an acupuncture treatment, your acupuncturist inserts very thin needles into specific spots on your body. Insertion of the needles usually causes little discomfort however there is a slight pulling sensation that is called a deqi sensation, whereby the acupuncturist can feel the needle is correctly inserted when it connects to the acupuncture point. Each person who performs acupuncture has a unique style, often blending aspects of Eastern and Western approaches to medicine. To determine the type of acupuncture treatment that will help you the most, your practitioner may ask you about your symptoms, behaviours and lifestyle, examining:
- The parts of your body that are painful
- The shape, coating and colour of your tongue
- The colour of your face
- The strength, rhythm and quality of the pulse in your wrist
The number of sessions required
An initial acupuncture session may take up to 60 minutes, although the follow up appointments may be much shorter. A common treatment plan for a single complaint would typically involve one or two treatments a week. The number of treatments will depend on the condition being treated and its severity. In general, it’s common to receive 6 to 8 treatments. Additional techniques may be used like applying heat, cupping, massage or electro acupuncture.
During the procedure
Acupuncture points are situated in all areas of the body. Sometimes the appropriate points are far removed from the area of your pain. Like a point for lower back pain called Bladder 40 is located behind the knee, and stimulation of this point can bring about pain relief. Your acupuncture practitioner will tell you the general site of the planned treatment and whether you need to remove any clothing. A gown, towel or sheet will be provided. You lie on a padded table for the treatment, which involves:
- Needle insertion. Acupuncture needles are inserted to various depths at strategic points on your body. The needles are very thin, so insertion usually causes little discomfort. People often don’t feel them inserted at all, yet a necessary sensation, deqi is usually a good sign that the acupuncturist has the required technique and experience. A typical treatment uses 5 to 15 needles. You may feel a mild aching sensation when a needle reaches the correct depth – again the deqi sensation.
- Needle manipulation. Your practitioner may gently move or twirl the needles after placement or apply heat or mild electrical pulses to the needles.
- Needle removal. In most cases, the needles remain in place for 30 minutes while you lie still and relax. There is usually no discomfort when the needles are removed.
After the procedure
Some people feel relaxed and others feel energized after an acupuncture treatment. But not everyone responds to acupuncture. If your symptoms don’t begin to improve within a few weeks, acupuncture may not be right for you. The benefits of acupuncture are sometimes difficult to measure, but many people find it helpful as a means to control a variety of painful conditions. Acupuncture has few side effects, so it may be worth a try if you’re having trouble controlling pain with more-conventional methods.