Your Spine Team

Chronic pain affects more people than cancer, diabetes and heart disease combined together. 40% of chronic pain problems are related to back and neck pain. Spinal pain leads to loss of work, wages, and suffering for the individual and their family as a whole. Prevalence of chronic low back pain is 3-4 times higher in individuals over 50 years, compared to those between the ages 18 to 30 years.

Even if you are not a medical professional, you probably know how to respond to chest pain. It is likely that you may also know how common conditions like high blood pressure or diabetes are treated. But not many people in the non-medical world know how to deal with an acute episode of back pain. The reasons for such acute episode could vary from a simple muscle sprain to disc herniation and even spinal fracture. Internet seems like an easy and obvious source for initial research, but it is as much a friend as it is a foe. Many websites, including some renowned ones, are filled with a mixture of partially right to grossly wrongful information. So where should you start?

Primary care physicians, physical therapists, chiropractors, pain physicians, and spine surgeons look and treat back pain differently. These specialists come from different fields and follow different philosophies to address spinal pain. Medical research on back pain is polluted with bias and poorly performed studies, and hence there is a lack of consensus guidelines that are accepted equally by all specialists.

The two factors that are proven to work in most cases are timely diagnosis and coordinated patient care. Early diagnosis is essential. Not all herniated discs cause pain. There are some disc herniations to ignore and there are others that require early treatment. Team effort in planning your treatment is the key. Your pain doctor may “cool down” an inflamed pinched nerve with an injection while your physical therapist works on strengthening the affected weakened muscles. Your chiropractor may reduce stress from a degenerated disc with manipulations while your massage therapist helps to reduce trigger focus in your back muscles. If the response to treatment is slow, you may need a minimally invasive spine surgery to prevent permanent weakness or loss of function.

At SpineCare, our doctors follow this philosophy in every single patient. Identifying the source of pain, educating families about the nature of illness, formulating a tailored treatment plan to suit your life and coordinating care with your therapist or chiropractor is our goal. If you have been lost in the back pain world, it is time you consider establishing your own “spine team”.