Medical treatments for back pain…

Anti-inflammatory drugs (more commonly known as nonspecific
anti-inflammatory drugs) can sometimes be useful for reducing
the pain in your back, and also bringing down any associated
inflammation. However, like all pharmaceutical drugs, even NSAIDs can
have side-effects such as an increased risk of gastro-intestinal bleeding.
Thus, they are not ideal for everyone who suffers from a back pain
problem, and they should be taken for as short a period of time as
possible.

In addition, there are narcotic pain killers that will reduce the pain
symptoms, but they can also be used only for a limited period of time
with any degree of safety. Drug based muscle relaxants might also be
prescribed by your medical attendant if the primary cause of your back
pain problems is muscle spasms. In this case, however, muscle
relaxants (such as Valium) are likely to make you drowsy, so once
again, great care has to be applied if you intend to take such drugs.

If you are suffering from inflammation around the spinal nerves, your
medical practitioner may recommend an epidural steroid injection that
will reduce both the pain and the inflammation around the nerves at the
same time. Steroids are another pharmaceutical drug that you should
only take for a limited period of time, and most people who have had an
epidural will tell you that it is no walk in the park!
The final solution is spinal surgery, but this actually only happens in a
small number of cases. Spinal surgery only becomes necessary after
trying all other treatments without success, hence it is most commonly
used as a treatment of last resort.

Spinal surgery is only really effective for a limited number of conditions
listed in the previous section such as spondylolisthesis, spinal stenosis
or to remove a ruptured disc should that become necessary (which is
unusual).
Most physicians will only consider surgery when they believe that the
risk of not undertaking surgery is greater than the risk of doing so. For
example, if after a considerable period of non-invasive treatment, a
slipped or ruptured disc is not getting any better, it can quite easily
start to get worse. In this situation, it is possible that spinal surgery will
be considered.
Chronic back pain.

Medical causes of back pain 3

Sciatica: Sciatica is another relatively common form of back pain. This
is a term that is used to describe a pain that not only affects the lower
back, but also stretches down into the buttocks and legs. It results from
irritation or overstimulation of a large nerve in the spinal column known
as the sciatic nerve. Because sciatica is a pain that is associated with
irritation of a particular nerve, it is a condition that can accompany
other less serious back problems like muscle strains and ligament
sprains.

Spinal stenosis: This is another condition that is associated with
getting older. The spinal column itself can become more restrictive as a
result of a condition like arthritis, and as a result it can put pressure on
the spinal cord or surrounding nerves. In this case, pain is the almost
inevitable result.

Osteoporosis: This is another condition that is generally associated
with the ageing process, one in which the bones throughout the body
get continually weaker due to reduced levels of calcium. Consequently,
because the bones are gradually weakening, it is not uncommon to find
osteoporosis has caused compression fractures of the vertebrae,
particularly in older women.

Lumbar spine arthritis: Although it is likely that you are most familiar
with arthritis as a medical condition that mainly affects external parts of
the body such as the fingers, hands and toes, it is a fact that arthritis
can attack any bone and joint in the body. Consequently, arthritis can
attack the joints in the spine, making almost any kind of movement a
very painful process.

Spondylolisthesis: When adjacent vertebrae in the spine become
unstable because of a general degenerative condition in that area of the
body, individual vertebrae can begin to shift their positions relative to
one another. In this scenario, it is always possible that individual
vertebrae will start grinding or rubbing against one another, and this
will cause a great deal of back pain.
Chronic back pain.