Minimally Invasive Treatments for Back Pain

Back pain is a common pain complaint and a variety of factors may cause back pain.

• Congenital Causes

o    Skeletal deformities, such as scoliosis, or kyphosis
o    Spina bifida, or incomplete development of the spinal cord

• Injuries

o    Traumatic injuries from playing sports, falls, or car accidents
o    Muscle sprains, strains, and spasms

• Degenerative Causes

o    Spondylosis or degeneration of the spine with age
o    Arthritis
o    Intervertebral disc degeneration

• Nerve & Spinal Cord Causes

o    Spinal nerve compression
o    Narrowing of the spinal column (spinal stenosis)

• Infections
• Osteoporosis
• Herniated discs

Minimally Invasive Treatments for Back Pain

Your restorative pain management doctor will recommend non- and less invasive forms of treatment as the first line of treatment if you are suffering from back pain.

If conservative treatments such as NSAIDs (Non-Steroidal Anti-Inflammatory Drugs) or localized steroid injections fail to relieve your pain, your doctor may recommend minimally invasive, interventional treatments. Interventional treatments can providesignificant, lasting relief.

One such treatment is Spinal Cord Stimulation. During the spinal cord stimulation procedure, the patient will first undergo a stimulator trial. If the stimulator provides them 50% or greater pain relief, a permanent spinal cord stimulator is implanted. These stimulators are connected to a generator that sends electrical impulses. The electrical signals interfere with the pain signals sent from the nerves to the brain, providing significant pain relief.

Dorsal root ganglion or DRG therapy (DRG) is similar to spinal cord stimulation and involvessending electrical signals to interrupt the nerve fibers that send pain signals.

If the back pain is caused by compression fractures in the vertebrae, minimally invasive surgical procedures - Vertebroplasty and Kyphoplasty can help. The treatments involve injecting a bone cement into the vertebral body that quickly hardens and stabilizes the bone.

Nerve blocks are another common treatment for back pain. Nerve blocks areinjections of numbing substances that are administered to specific nerves via to relieve pain. Common nerve blocks are administered for trigeminal neuralgia in the face, blocks in the forehead, blocks in the pelvis or abdomen, blocks in the back, and blocks in the jaw. In the back, three types of nerve blocks can be administered: cervical, thoracic, and lumbar.

Interventional treatments for pain can provide great relief from back pain that lasts for a long time.

If you are looking for internal medicine and restorative pain management doctorsin San Diego, call Pacific Medical Care at (619) 333-8114.Pacific Medical Care provides a wide range of healthcare services, and first-rate care to treat the whole patient. Over the past two decades, Pacific Medical Care has expanded their services to optimize your health with a visionary approach of offering expert, customized care.

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pacificmedical Joined: October 24th, 2018