If you’ve had back pain for over three months, you’re in the chronic disease stage. Medication’s objective is to alleviate the patient’s pain through analgesia, decrease inflammation, and relax muscles, yet it frequently results in disappointment. What about the long-term consequences and treatment of spinal deformity?
Chronic back pain can strike any age, although it is frequently linked to degenerative cartilage and bone tissue processes. Arthritis, spinal stenosis, myofascial pain disorder, and disc issues are all factors to consider before undertaking a significant medical operation.
Working with your physician to decrease flare-ups and relieve pain allows you to avoid illness stages that indicate the need for surgery. As a result, if you believe your rheumatologist has maxed his diagnostic powers, you should seek a second opinion. In this instance, intervention could be the only viable option. Lower back surgery results in a faster recovery, a return to regular activities and sports, and a higher quality of life.
Non-surgical therapies for persistent back pain
Meditation
Therapy focuses on the psychological elements of pain that physically and emotionally exhaust the patient’s body. They develop apathy, inactivity, and irritability. To keep the patient focused on the discomfort, a rehabilitation psychologist may offer meditation, yoga, tai chi, and other mental relaxation techniques.
Physiotherapy
Physical activity maintenance is the foundation of treatment and even postoperative recovery. Patients must complete a daily set of exercises according to their medical problems and diagnoses under the supervision of physiotherapists:
- Pain tolerance testing;
- Posture training
- Exercising flexibility and stretching
- Aerobic exercises;
- Cardio.
Nutrition
Inflammation is caused by diets heavy in trans fats, processed sugar, and salt. So, if you like semi-finished pizza with brown sauce and cola, you’ll probably have to give up these meals to stay healthy.
You can maintain the strength of the spine’s bones by eating enough calcium and vitamin D. Increase your consumption of greens and dairy products and complement your diet with fatty fish, egg yolks, and cow liver. Discuss supplements with your doctor.
Changes in Lifestyle
Do you recall the primary tenet of meditation: “Listen to your body”? That also applies to your way of life: avoid anything that aggravates discomfort and break undesirable behaviors.
As you may know, smokers are more prone than nonsmokers to suffer from back pain. The truth is that smoking reduces blood supply to the spinal discs, causing them to dry out and potentially burst. It decreases the quantity of oxygen in the circulation, resulting in muscle and tendon hypoxia.
It’s sometimes worth switching your shoes to relieve back discomfort. A little heel of less than one inch is an excellent choice. You can also sleep with a pillow beneath your legs.
Injection procedures
When the precise source of the pain is identified yet non-surgical treatments fail, the following treatment is used:
Epidural steroid injections
Injections of steroids into the dural sac’s exterior briefly reduce pain by lowering inflammation surrounding the pinched nerve root. Injections might be used in conjunction with physical therapy to achieve speedy development.
Narcotic pain relievers
Opioids modify pain perception by weakening impulses transmitted to the brain. They are used to provide short-term respite from severe pain syndrome. Remember that narcotic medicines are highly addictive and have several adverse effects. Consult your doctor about other options.
Relaxants for the muscles
They depress the central nervous system by improving tense muscular mobility and relieving spasms, but they do not alleviate pain. The injections relieve pain temporarily but cannot be used indefinitely.
Alternative techniques
Acupuncture, massage, biofeedback treatment, laser therapy, and electrical nerve stimulation can help with pain relief. If you require medical attention, consult with your doctor.
Back pain surgical treatment
kyphoplasty with vertebroplasty
To heal the compression fractures in the vertebrae, an injection of glue-like cement is employed, which hardens and reinforces the bone. The main dangers of the surgery include bone or cement particles migrating into the spinal canal. Reports of pulmonary embolisms have been induced by implanted material leakage into the venous circulation.
Decompression and spinal laminectomy
The surgeon removes the bone walls of the vertebrae to reduce pressure on the nerves. A difficult operation can be fatal for the patient since there is a high danger of nerve tissue and dura mater damage, resulting in cauda equina syndrome.
Diskectomy
The disc is removed when there is a hernia or severe pressure on the nerve roots. Infection, bleeding, and even cerebrospinal fluid leaks are all possible outcomes of surgery.
Foraminotomy
To prevent pressure on the nerve, the vertebral aperture at the exit point of the nerve root is enlarged. Foraminotomy dangers include infections of the wound and vertebral bones and spinal nerve injury.
Nucleoplasty
This is a minimally invasive nerve pressure relief procedure in which a laser device at the tip of a needle vaporizes fluid in the disc tissue, reducing its size and alleviating pressure on the nerves. The operation has comparable outcomes to a discectomy. However, a re-hernia may develop.
Spinal fusion
The surgeon uses bone implants, metal constructions with screws, to connect two or more vertebrae. It causes a loss of spine flexibility and a lengthy healing period. Blood clots, bleeding, and injuries to blood vessels, nerves, and the spine may occur following the intervention. Patients experience discomfort at the implant site.
TOPS System implantation
The method is considered an alternative to the ones listed above because it is less intrusive and has fewer negative outcomes. It entails inserting a mechanical implant to replace the bone or soft tissue lost during decompression. The implant comprises two plates and a mechanical component in the center. It permits a broad range of motion while preventing spine immobility, as with the fusion operation. The system performed admirably in 86% of cases. A case of straightforward leakage of the tough spinal cord and a focus on progressive degenerative alterations in the vertebral above the implant was documented; one patient had a symptomatic screw halo 6 months after the operation. A quick recovery and return to usual activities, including sports.