Non-Surgical Treatment of Spine and Back Conditions
Self-Care
Most patients with back pain recover without residual functional loss. Patients should contact a doctor if there is not a noticeable reduction in pain and inflammation after 72 hours of self-care.
Ice and Heat: Although ice and heat (the use of cold and hot compresses) have never been scientifically proven to quickly resolve back injury, compresses may help reduce pain and inflammation and allow greater mobility for some individuals. As soon as possible following trauma, patients should apply a cold pack or a cold compress (such as a bag of ice or bag of frozen vegetables wrapped in a towel) to the tender spot several times a day for up to 20 minutes. After 2 to 3 days of cold treatment, they should then apply heat (such as a heating lamp or hot pad) for brief periods to relax muscles and increase blood flow. Warm baths may also help relax muscles. Patients should avoid sleeping on a heating pad, which can cause burns and lead to additional tissue damage.
Bed rest: 1–2 days at most. A 1996 Finnish study found that persons who continued their activities without bed rest following onset of back pain appeared to have better back flexibility than those who rested in bed for a week. Other studies suggest that bed rest alone may make back pain worse and can lead to secondary complications such as depression, decreased muscle tone, and blood clots in the legs. Patients should resume activities as soon as possible. At night or during rest, patients should lie on one side, with a pillow between the knees (some doctors suggest resting on the back and putting a pillow beneath the knees).
Exercise: Exercise may be the most effective way to speed recovery from low back pain and help strengthen back and abdominal muscles. Maintaining and building muscle strength is particularly important for persons with skeletal irregularities. Doctors and physical therapists can provide a list of gentle exercises that help keep muscles moving and speed the recovery process. A routine of back-healthy activities may include stretching exercises, swimming, walking, and movement therapy to improve coordination and develop proper posture and muscle balance. Yoga is another way to gently stretch muscles and ease pain. Any mild discomfort felt at the start of these exercises should disappear as muscles become stronger. But if pain is more than mild and lasts more than 15 minutes during exercise, patients should stop exercising and contact a doctor.
Medications
Medications are often used to treat acute and chronic low back pain. Effective pain relief may involve a combination of prescription drugs and over-the-counter remedies. Patients should always check with a doctor before taking drugs for pain relief. Certain medicines, even those sold over the counter, are unsafe during pregnancy, may conflict with other medications, may cause side effects including drowsiness, or may lead to liver damage.
Over-the-counter analgesics: including nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (“NSAIDs”, such as aspirin, naproxen, and ibuprofen), are taken orally to reduce stiffness, swelling, and inflammation and to ease mild to moderate low back pain. Counter-irritants applied topically to the skin as a cream or spray stimulate the nerve endings in the skin to provide feelings of warmth or cold and dull the sense of pain. Topical analgesics can also reduce inflammation and stimulate blood flow. Many of these compounds contain salicylates, the same ingredient found in oral pain medications containing aspirin.
Anticonvulsants: drugs primarily used to treat seizures, may be useful in treating certain types of nerve pain and may also be prescribed with analgesics.
Some antidepressants: particularly tricyclic antidepressants such as amitriptyline and desipramine, have been shown to relieve pain (independent of their effect on depression) and assist with sleep. Antidepressants alter levels of brain chemicals to elevate mood and dull pain signals. Many of the new antidepressants, such as the selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors, are being studied for their effectiveness in pain relief.
Opioids: such as codeine, oxycodone, hydrocodone, and morphine are often prescribed to manage severe acute and chronic back pain but should be used only for a short period of time and under a physician’s supervision. Side effects can include drowsiness, decreased reaction time, impaired judgment, and potential for addiction. Many specialists are convinced that chronic use of these drugs is detrimental to the back pain patient, adding to depression and even increasing pain.
Non-Invasive
Therapies
When back pain does not respond to more conventional approaches, patients may consider the following options:
Spinal manipulation: Spinal manipulation is literally a “hands-on” approach in which professionally licensed specialists use leverage and a series of exercises to adjust spinal structures and restore back mobility.
Acupuncture: Acupuncture involves the insertion of needles the width of a human hair along precise points throughout the body. Practitioners believe this process triggers the release of naturally occurring painkilling molecules called peptides and keeps the body’s normal flow of energy unblocked. Clinical studies are measuring the effectiveness of acupuncture in comparison to more conventional procedures in the treatment of acute low back pain.
Biofeedback: Biofeedback is used to treat many acute pain problems, most notably back pain and headache. Using a special electronic machine, the patient is trained to become aware of, to follow, and to gain control over certain bodily functions, including muscle tension, heart rate, and skin temperature (by controlling local blood flow patterns). The patient can then learn to effect a change in his or her response to pain, for example, by using relaxation techniques. Biofeedback is often used in combination with other treatment methods, generally without side effects.
Interventional therapy: Interventional therapy can ease chronic pain by blocking nerve conduction between specific areas of the body and the brain. Approaches range from injections of local anesthetics, steroids, or narcotics into affected soft tissues, joints, or nerve roots to more complex nerve blocks and spinal cord stimulation. When extreme pain is involved, low doses of drugs may be administered by catheter directly onto the spinal cord. Chronic use of steroid injections may lead to increased functional impairment.
Traction: Traction involves the use of weights to apply constant or intermittent force to gradually “pull” the skeletal structure into better alignment. Traction is not recommended for treating acute low back symptoms.
Transcutaneous electrical nerve stimulation (TENS): TENS is administered by a battery-powered device that sends mild electric pulses along nerve fibers to block pain signals to the brain. Small electrodes placed on the skin at or near the site of pain generate nerve impulses that block incoming pain signals from the peripheral nerves. TENS may also help stimulate the brain’s production of endorphins (chemicals that have pain-relieving properties).
Ultrasound: Ultrasound is a noninvasive therapy used to warm the body’s internal tissues, which causes muscles to relax. Sound waves pass through the skin and into the injured muscles and other soft tissues.
Infrared Sauna: Using the infrared sauna as your main heat source, you should be able to feel your muscles loosening when they become warmed up. This is made possible with the dilation of blood vessels around the lumbar spine. With the heat penetrating the body and opening up the vessels, the nutrients and oxygen coursing through are able to flow better to the muscles. This begins a healing process for the damaged tissue, as well as eases the transmission of pain signals to the brain.
Massage therapy: This therapy can provide substantial healing and pain relief for people suffering from low back pain caused by muscle tension and strain, if the correct muscles are targeted.
Christiaan Janssens
CRO Akwa Wellness
Sources and References:
Morrisette D, Cholewicki J, Logan S, Seif G, McGowan S. A randomized clinical trial comparing extensible and inextensible lumbosacral orthoses and standard care alone in the management of low back pain. Spine (Phila Pa 1976). 2014 October 1; 39(21):1733–42.
Furlan A, Tazdi F, Tsertsvadze A, et al. Complementary and Alternative Therapies for Back Pain II. Evidence Report/Technology Assessment №194. AHRQ Publication №10(11) E007. Rockville, MD; Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality. October 2010.
Nordin M, Campello M. Physical therapy: exercises and the modalities: when,what, and why? Neurol Clin. 1999;17:75–89.
Cherkin DC, Deyo RA, Battié M, Street J, Barlow W. A comparison of physical therapy, chiropractic manipulation, and provision of an educational booklet for the treatment of patients with low back pain. N Engl J Med. 1998;339:1021–9.
Bronfort G, Goldsmith CH, Nelson CF, Boline PD, Anderson AV. Trunkexercise combined with spinal manipulative or NSAID therapy for chronic lowback pain: a randomized, observer-blinded clinical trial. J Manipulative PhysiolTher. 1996;19:570–82.
Websites:
www.spine-health.com/conditions/lower-back-pain/non-surgical-treatments-lower-back-pain
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