Education

Let’s face it, it happens. Four out of five American adults (80%) experience back pain at sometime during their lives. More than 65 million Americans suffer from back pain every year. Another 13.6 million Americans can not do routine activities because of their pain. Back pain is one of the most prevalent medical problems in today's society. 21.6 million Americans routinely take prescription pain killers. Four billion work days are lost annually to pain.  Pain seems to affect us all sooner or later. You start missing activities because of your pain. Sitting in the movie theater is no longer an option, and you find yourself spending more time in the lobby trying to get comfortable. Playing with the kids shoots sharp pain throughout the side of your legs. Going to the gym is no longer possible or enjoyable. Golf is no longer fun with your buddies. At some point we’ve all been there- having neck, back, or other pain that doesn’t go away hour after hour or day after day. You lose sleep, work time, you’re irritable, and it’s difficult to concentrate because of the pain.  Should I keep going? We all experience some kind of pain as we age. It could be mild or disabling. Common symptoms that affect seniors are degenerative disc disease, sciatica, spinal stenosis, arthritis, pinched nerves, herniated discs, shingles, failed surgery pain, migraine headaches and cancer pains.

Understanding Pain

There are many causes of pain in the back. Symptoms in the low back can be a result of problems in the bony lumbar spine, ligaments around the spine and discs, discs between the vertebrae, spinal cord and nerves, muscles of the low back, internal organs of the pelvis and abdomen, and the skin covering the lumbar area. The International Association for the Study of Pain (IASP) defines pain as: an unpleasant sensory and/or emotional experience associated with actual or potential tissue damage or described in term of such damage. Pain is actually a message sent along the nerves to let the brain know that something is damaging the body. The brain responds by sending a message to the muscles or organ to take action.

Acute Pain vs. Chronic Pain

In the medical world, all pain is divided into two categories: acute pain and chronic pain.

Acute pain is temporary, and goes away quickly. It is useful, since it usually warns you of sources of harm and tells your body to rest, avoid further injury, or seek treatment and protect itself while it is healing.  Fortunately, for most of us this type of pain eventually goes away. But what if it doesn’t? What if the pain continued for months, even years? This is called chronic pain.

Chronic pain is pain that is unpleasant and lasts for prolonged periods of time. Generally if you've been experiencing pain in the same place for 3 months or more, that pain is likely to be classified as chronic. Since it lasts so long, it does not serve as a useful warning. Unlike acute pain, chronic pain in most cases does not serve the body a useful purpose. Rest or avoiding activity can actually make many chronic pain conditions worse. Then a vicious cycle develops. But, this chronic pain doesn’t have to continue. You can do something about it.  If you live with chronic pain or you have a family member that does, it’s time to take advantage of new medical advances, procedures and technology in Interventional Pain Management.

Today’s treatments

Today’s advanced procedures are done using a very advanced fluoroscopy unit (x-ray) to target the problem areas and maximize accuracy, and are done in our Ambulatory Surgery Center. In the past these procedures were done blind (no fluoroscopy unit) using the Physicians judgment and skills. Being off in the placement of the needle by just a millimeter can make the difference between the treatment working or not.  Today’s treatments vary greatly from just a few years ago. In the past, traditional methods of treatment include narcotic type pain medications, chiropractic manipulation, stretching, diet, physical therapy, exercise, acupuncture, rehabilitation, holistic medicine, surgery, etc. The drugs are basically a mask for the pain and do not resolve the problem. They can become addicting and leave you quite drowsy. In today’s world, that is not an option for the productive American. We need to keep on working, drive our kids to work, spend time with our friends and family, etc.

How quick will I get relief.

How quick will I get relief you ask? That’s the good news. Though your problems might have taken 20 years to surface, relief is quick. In some patients immediately to 2-3 days. An epidural or a selective nerve root block can target the nerve that is causing the pain. Injecting a mixture of steroid medication and a local anesthetic often gives immediate relief as the steroids start working to decrease the inflammation around the nerves, although individual respond may occur more quickly or slowly. But just as each patient is an individual, not all options are available or appropriate for everyone.