Spine pain is a serious pain that should not be ignored. By ignoring a pain, you are risking it becoming much more severe, to a point where surgery may be your only option- an option most people do not want to take. If the pain is ongoing or getting increasingly worse, has been present for over four weeks, pain medication does not help, or it wakes you up at night, you need to see a doctor or specialist immediately, for spine pain management.
Here are three reasons why you should be doing this, rather than trying to ignore it another day.
1. They will be Better Able to Explain the Situation
When you have spinal pain, it can be caused by any number of conditions that are not always easily determined by a general doctor. But, by seeing a specialist, they can help you to understand what it is that is causing your pain, and provide a number of options on how to treat it. Some things that can cause pain in your spine include:
- Herniated disks
- Degenerative disc disease
- Osteoarthritis, or spinal stenosis
- Compression fractures
These can be caused by inflammation in certain areas of the spine, which then results in pain. When these pains are persistent, it is important that you seek medical help from a spine pain management Tampa professional.
2. They Can Give You Something to Stop the Pain
One method is to give the patient injections, which will help lessen the severity of the pain. There are a number of different types of injections that specialist may offer. Riverside Pain Physicians, who offer spine pain management Tampa area, offer some of the following:
- Caudal Steroid Injections, which relieves lower back pain, and help to reduce swelling and inflammation caused by a number of spinal conditions:
- Spinal stenosis
- Radiculopathy
- Sciatica
- Herniated disks
- Facet Joint Injections: this form of injection is beneficial in helping to determine the source of pain, but can also help to relieve pain and inflammation. It is also a good treatment if you suffer from neck pain.
- Cervical Epidural Steroid Injection, which is used to relieve pain in the various parts of the body including the neck, which may be caused by a pinched nerve in the cervical spine. This can be caused by a number of conditions, such as herniated disks, which causes inflammation and pain. Injections also help decrease nerve swelling.
3. They Can Perform Surgical Procedures
When injections are not providing you with the desired relief, another option in pain management includes some mildly invasive procedures. These types of procedures can usually be done with local anesthesia and are much quicker and safer than regular surgery. Some types of minimally invasive procedures include:
- Radiofrequency (RF) Rhizotomy, which can reduce or entirely eliminate the pain caused by damaged facet joints
Other options include implants, such as a Spinal Cord Stimulator implant, which uses electrical shocks to help relieve chronic pain in various parts of the body, including the back. These electrical shocks are believed to prevent pain signals from being received by the brain, thus, relieving the patient. Those interested in this procedure, which is currently available as a trial treatment, is good for people who are suffering from neuropathic pain and who were not helped by more conservative treatments.
Spine pain is extremely painful, but with spine pain management, you can find relief. Find a spine pain specialist in your area today, and talk to them about your pain and how to relieve it. For those in the Tampa area, consider calling Riverside Pain Physicians, whose qualified team can help you with your spine pain management Tampa.
