Back pain is an increasingly widespread medical condition. Back pain can be dull, constant, or suddenly severe.
Risk factors include low fitness levels, weight gain, heavy lifting at work, and poor posture. However, anyone can experience back pain, even if they don’t have any risk factors.
Our expert team of neurologists at Cayman Neurology can help you deal with your chronic back pain. For more information regarding the treatment of back pain in the Cayman Islands or tips on effective pain management, contact our office today!
What Are the Types of Back Pain?
The different types of back pain can be categorized according to the duration of the pain. Below are the different types of back pain.
- Acute back pain: The pain comes on suddenly and usually lasts a few days to a few weeks.
- Subacute back pain: The pain can come on quickly or slowly and lasts 4 to 12 weeks.
- Chronic back pain: The pain can start suddenly or slowly and lasts longer than 12 weeks.
What Causes Back Pain?
Back pain can be caused by injuries, as well as various conditions and diseases. It usually results from muscles, discs, spinal joints, and nerves being out of sync during movement.
The following list mentions some reasons why you may be experiencing back pain.
- Strains and sprains: Strains and sprains in the back are the most common causes of back pain. Injuries to the muscles, tendons, or ligaments in your back can be caused by lifting things that are too heavy or not lifting safely. You could even strain your back by sneezing, coughing, bending, or twisting.
- Fractures: The bones of your spine in your back could experience a break in an accident, such as a car crash or even a fall.
- Disc problems: The discs in your spine cushion the vertebrae. These disks can bulge and press on a nerve. Your disks can also tear. Degenerative disc disease is another disc problem that can cause chronic back pain.
- Structural problems: When the structure of your spinal column pinches on your spinal cord, it can cause severe back pain. Structural issues include conditions such as spinal stenosis and scoliosis.
- Arthritis: Osteoarthritis is the most common type of arthritis to cause chronic low back pain.
- Disease: Tumors in your spine, infections, or other cancers near your spine can cause back pain. Kidney stones and abdominal aortic aneurysms are other diseases that can cause back pain.
- Spondylolisthesis: This condition causes the vertebrae in the spine to slip out of place. Spondylolisthesis leads to low back pain and often leg pain as well.
The Symptoms of Back Pain
You may experience back pain in a specific area or your whole back. The pain can come on suddenly, as in the case of a strain or sprain, or it can develop gradually. Back pain can also vary in degree.
Other symptoms of back pain are included in the list below.
- Muscle spasms: Severe pain caused by muscle spasms usually occur after a strain in the muscles.
- Stiffness: Decreased mobility may make it painful to move from a sitting to a standing position.
- Posture problems: Leaning to one side or not being able to stand up straight may indicate pain in your back.
How to Treat Back Pain
There are many different treatment types depending on the degree of your back pain. When the back pain is acute, then ice, rest, and anti-inflammatory medication will usually be sufficient to treat the pain.
However, further treatments may be necessary if the back pain is more serious. The following list highlights some other treatments available for back pain.
- Medications: Non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs) or prescription drugs may be recommended to relieve pain. Medications are also available to relax muscles and prevent back spasms.
- Physical therapy (PT): PT helps strengthen your back and abdominal muscles, which will support your spine. PT can help improve your flexibility and help you avoid another injury.
- Hands-on manipulation: There are several “hands-on” treatments that can help relax tight muscles, reduce pain, and improve posture and alignment. These include osteopathic manipulation and chiropractic adjustments. Massage therapy can also help with back pain relief.
- Injections: Medication can be injected into the area that’s causing pain. Pain relievers include steroids, which can also reduce inflammation.
- Surgery: Surgical repair is not often needed but can help in some cases. Doctors will first lean toward minimally-invasive techniques when correcting low back pain.
Getting a proper diagnosis before treatment is essential, as some treatments can worsen the pain.
Pain Management for Back Pain
Back pain can often be treated quickly. However, if back pain lasts longer than 2 months, you likely have chronic back pain.
Chronic back pain is usually not the result of illness or injury. Instead, the pain could result from a problem with the brain’s pain center.
At Cayman Neurology, we employ several methods to allow patients to manage chronic pain. The following list contains our treatment options.
- Facet blocks
- Epidural injections
- SI joint injections
- Nerve blocks
- RF ablation
- Pain medication
The use of these techniques is based on each patient’s medical needs. Some patients respond to certain treatments, while others respond to a combination of methods. Our pain management experts at Cayman Neurology will work with you to ensure that you receive the proper type of back pain relief that’s best for you.
Contact our office in the Cayman Islands today for more information regarding the treatment of back pain and to discuss effective pain management options.
BACK PAIN
Back pain is an increasingly widespread medical condition. Back pain can be dull, constant, or suddenly severe.
Risk factors include low fitness levels, weight gain, heavy lifting at work, and poor posture. However, anyone can experience back pain, even if they don’t have any risk factors.
Our expert team of neurologists at Cayman Neurology can help you deal with your chronic back pain. For more information regarding the treatment of back pain in the Cayman Islands or tips on effective pain management, contact our office today!
What Are the Types of Back Pain?
The different types of back pain can be categorized according to the duration of the pain. Below are the different types of back pain.
- Acute back pain: The pain comes on suddenly and usually lasts a few days to a few weeks.
- Subacute back pain: The pain can come on quickly or slowly and lasts 4 to 12 weeks.
- Chronic back pain: The pain can start suddenly or slowly and lasts longer than 12 weeks.
What Causes Back Pain?
Back pain can be caused by injuries, as well as various conditions and diseases. It usually results from muscles, discs, spinal joints, and nerves being out of sync during movement.
The following list mentions some reasons why you may be experiencing back pain.
- Strains and sprains: Strains and sprains in the back are the most common causes of back pain. Injuries to the muscles, tendons, or ligaments in your back can be caused by lifting things that are too heavy or not lifting safely. You could even strain your back by sneezing, coughing, bending, or twisting.
- Fractures: The bones of your spine in your back could experience a break in an accident, such as a car crash or even a fall.
- Disc problems: The discs in your spine cushion the vertebrae. These disks can bulge and press on a nerve. Your disks can also tear. Degenerative disc disease is another disc problem that can cause chronic back pain.
- Structural problems: When the structure of your spinal column pinches on your spinal cord, it can cause severe back pain. Structural issues include conditions such as spinal stenosis and scoliosis.
- Arthritis: Osteoarthritis is the most common type of arthritis to cause chronic low back pain.
- Disease: Tumors in your spine, infections, or other cancers near your spine can cause back pain. Kidney stones and abdominal aortic aneurysms are other diseases that can cause back pain.
- Spondylolisthesis: This condition causes the vertebrae in the spine to slip out of place. Spondylolisthesis leads to low back pain and often leg pain as well.
The Symptoms of Back Pain
You may experience back pain in a specific area or your whole back. The pain can come on suddenly, as in the case of a strain or sprain, or it can develop gradually. Back pain can also vary in degree.
Other symptoms of back pain are included in the list below.
- Muscle spasms: Severe pain caused by muscle spasms usually occur after a strain in the muscles.
- Stiffness: Decreased mobility may make it painful to move from a sitting to a standing position.
- Posture problems: Leaning to one side or not being able to stand up straight may indicate pain in your back.
How to Treat Back Pain
There are many different treatment types depending on the degree of your back pain. When the back pain is acute, then ice, rest, and anti-inflammatory medication will usually be sufficient to treat the pain.
However, further treatments may be necessary if the back pain is more serious. The following list highlights some other treatments available for back pain.
- Medications: Non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs) or prescription drugs may be recommended to relieve pain. Medications are also available to relax muscles and prevent back spasms.
- Physical therapy (PT): PT helps strengthen your back and abdominal muscles, which will support your spine. PT can help improve your flexibility and help you avoid another injury.
- Hands-on manipulation: There are several “hands-on” treatments that can help relax tight muscles, reduce pain, and improve posture and alignment. These include osteopathic manipulation and chiropractic adjustments. Massage therapy can also help with back pain relief.
- Injections: Medication can be injected into the area that’s causing pain. Pain relievers include steroids, which can also reduce inflammation.
- Surgery: Surgical repair is not often needed but can help in some cases. Doctors will first lean toward minimally-invasive techniques when correcting low back pain.
Getting a proper diagnosis before treatment is essential, as some treatments can worsen the pain.
Pain Management for Back Pain
Back pain can often be treated quickly. However, if back pain lasts longer than 2 months, you likely have chronic back pain.
Chronic back pain is usually not the result of illness or injury. Instead, the pain could result from a problem with the brain’s pain center.
At Cayman Neurology, we employ several methods to allow patients to manage chronic pain. The following list contains our treatment options.
- Facet blocks
- Epidural injections
- SI joint injections
- Nerve blocks
- RF ablation
- Pain medication
The use of these techniques is based on each patient’s medical needs. Some patients respond to certain treatments, while others respond to a combination of methods. Our pain management experts at Cayman Neurology will work with you to ensure that you receive the proper type of back pain relief that’s best for you.
Contact our office in the Cayman Islands today for more information regarding the treatment of back pain and to discuss effective pain management options.
