Millions of Americans deal with various kinds of back injuries and pain. If you live a long life, there’s a very good chance that you might be one of them sooner or later. Back pain is particularly unpleasant and can linger for years in some instances.
Sometimes you might know precisely why your back hurts. A slip-and-fall incident might do it, or a car accident. You might injure it while playing sports.
Just as often, though, you’re not even sure why your back hurts. You might wake up one day, and it’s sore. There are some different ways you can deal with back pain and injuries, though. Let’s go over a few of them.
Yoga
Doctors say that, over the past 30 years, disabling back injuries have increased by more than half. If you know that you hurt your back at work, you’re probably worker’s-comp-eligible. That will certainly help you pay for the various medical bills that might pile up.
Many doctors tell their patients to try yoga for back pain. It can help with things like sciatic nerve pain and arthritis. Yoga:
· Can stretch out stiff back muscles
· Increases flexibility
If you have something like a bulging disk, yoga probably isn’t for you. If you have general or non-specific back pain, though, going to one of the more basic yoga classes a couple of times each week can help you, particularly as you get a little bit older.
Epidural
Occasionally, you may have the option to get an epidural for back pain. If you have a slipped or bulging disk, a doctor might say this is the way to go. An epidural:
· Is an injection into the back
· Is when doctors administer medication into the epidural space around the spinal cord
It sounds scary to think of getting a large needle injected into your back, but before the doctor does it, they give you a local anesthetic. You might feel some pressure, but no pain.
Epidurals only work with certain back injuries, so you’ll need to talk to your doctor about whether this is an option for you. A single shot can help a great deal in some cases. However, some people with chronic back problems must get several of these shots each year to alleviate their pain.
Physical Therapy
It’s also possible, again depending on your back pain’s nature, that you might try some physical therapy sessions to improve your back strength and flexibility.
IfIf you have suffered an injury due to a sporting accident it is common to seek treatment from a Sydney sports physio for recovery and pain management. These types of injuries can easily be treated by a physiotherapist, and they will help you with injury prevention to ensure it doesn’t happen again. However, physiotherapy is a non-surgical, drug free treatment, so serious breaks cannot be treated using physiotherapy alone.
For older adults with general or non-specific back pain, a doctor might say this is your best option. Physical therapy isn’t usually cheap, but if you have good health insurance, that should help with the costs. You can also use Medicare in some instances.
The physical therapist will assess you and then create a treatment plan. They’ll assist you with exercises at the clinic, and then probably give you some ones to do at home as well.
Massage
You can get a nice massage to relieve your back pain. This helps with many different back pain injuries and conditions. Again, this is something that your insurance can probably pay for, or at least it can cover some of the costs.
Since massage isn’t cheap, you probably can’t afford to do it that often, unless you have excellent insurance or you’re very well off financially. Still, even if you can do it once every couple of weeks or once a month, that can help your back pain quite a lot.
Since massage isn’t cheap, you probably can’t afford to do it that often, unless you have excellent insurance or you’re very well off financially. Still, even if you can do it once every couple of weeks or once a month, you should look for the nearest sports injury clinic that can help your back pain quite a lot.
Make sure that you find a masseuse or masseur who has lots of positive reviews online.
Back Surgery
Doctors know more about back problems now than they ever did before, but some back aspects remain mysterious. Medical professionals are usually reluctant to try back surgery unless they feel you have no other choice.
If your pain is so awful that you can barely walk, do your work, or enjoy life, and the doctor feels there is a surgical solution, they might attempt it. Surgery often involves risks, though. One mistake, and you might go from experiencing back pain to never walking again.
Mild back pain might annoy you, but more severe back pain can wreck your life. If you’re dealing with either one, you’ll need to talk to your doctor and decide which option is best for you.