Back Pain Diagnosis and Treatment

Fortunately, you can prevent back pain by following some basic home routines, as advised by your chiropractor. However, if you experience back pain, you should seek medical attention to prevent further complications.

For mild back pain, simple home treatments, and proper body mechanics, can help to heal your back within a few weeks. A patient will only require surgery in severe cases, however rarely.

Symptoms

The symptoms for back pain include muscle aches, burning or stabbing sensations, and radiating pain when you twist or bend. You can also experience pain on your back when you walk, lift a heavy object, or stand.

When to See a Chiropractor

Most of the time, your back heals with simple home treatments. However, you should see a chiropractor if your pain:

• Does not subside after a few weeks of proper home treatments
• Severe and does not improve through rest
• Radiates to one or both legs
• Is accompanied by unexplained loss of weight
• Causes tingling and numbness

In rare cases, back pain can be accompanied by fever, bowels, and bladder problems. If you experience such a case, contact a specialist near you immediately.

What Are the Causes of Back Pain?

Pain on your back most of the time develops without a cause that a chiropractor can identify through imaging and other tests. However, the conditions that can lead to back pain include:

• Arthritis. Arthritis is the inflammation of joints and can affect your lower back. Also, the inflammation can lead to narrowing of space around the spinal cord, causing a condition known as spinal stenosis.
• Muscle or ligament strain. Due to repeated heavy-lifting and awkward movements, your muscles and spinal ligaments can experience straining.
• Ruptured disks. The soft disks between your spinal vertebrae can rupture or bulge thus pressing on nerves. Therefore, you will experience pain at the site of damage.
• Osteoporosis. If your spinal bone becomes porous, you can develop painful fractures.

Diagnosis by a Chiropractor near You

To find the root cause of the back pain, your chiropractor will physically access your back, your ability to move and sit. The specialist can also ask you to rate your pain on a scale of 1 to 10. The assessments will help the chiropractor identify the sites of pain and severe it is.

If the pain is suspected to be caused by more than one condition, the chiropractor might carry any of the following tests:

• X-ray images will show if you have arthritis or fractured bones
• MRI and CT scans to show issues with the discs, muscles, ligaments, tendons, and nerves
• Blood tests to check for infections that might be causing the pain
• Electromyography to check for nerve compressions
• Bone scans to look for tumors or fractures caused by osteoporosis

Treatments

When seeking for back pain treatment in Cave Creek, AZ, our chiropractor at Tatum Chiropractic and Wellness can recommend chiropractic care or surgery.

Chiropractic Care

If the pain is a result of spine movements, the chiropractor can recommend spinal manipulation techniques. Some of the spinal manipulation techniques are more invasive than others. Chiropractic care techniques for back pain include:

• Spinal manipulation. Spinal or manual mobilization is a technique where the chiropractor applies high velocity, and short level arm thrusts on the abnormal vertebrae to reduce irritability. The manipulation also improves functionality and restores the range of motion on your back.
• Spinal mobilization. Chiropractic mobilization involves applying low-velocity arm thrusts on the abnormal vertebrae and stretching your joints and muscles. The technique aims to increase the range of motion within you your back.

Also, the specialist can teach you ways to increase your back flexibility and strengthen your muscles through physical exercise. Alternatively, the chiropractor can recommend acupuncture, massage, and yoga.

Surgery and Other Procedures

If you have severe pain that radiates to the legs and causes muscle weakness, the chiropractor might recommend surgery. However, the specialist will only recommend invasive procedures if you have specific conditions, that are are not treatable through intensive chiropractic manipulative therapies. Some of the conditions that require surgery are spinal stenosis and herniated discs.

Other procedures that chiropractors perform include:

• Implanted nerve stimulators to block pain signals
• Cortisone injections to relieve pain and reduce inflammation around nerve roots