Lower Back Pain
About Lower Back Pain
Lower back pain can make it difficult to perform daily functions. The pain can affect bending, twisting, lifting, walking, standing, sitting and sleeping.
Most lower back pain is acute (short-term), lasting a few days to a few weeks. Home remedies, such as resting, ice and heat, and over-the-counter medications can help. Chronic lower back pain is defined as pain that lasts for 12 weeks or more, even after the underlying cause or injury has been treated.
Lower back pain can range in intensity from a dull ache to a sudden sharp pain. It may radiate to the hips, buttocks, legs or feet and can be described in many ways: burning, aching, throbbing, cramping, stabbing, numbness, tingling or weakness.
Diagnosis Of Lower Back Pain
Our physicians are board certified, and are dedicated to giving you a comprehensive exam that will aid in diagnosing the cause of your symptoms. Using advanced diagnostic techniques, our doctors will find out the reason for your pain, and then get you on the road to better health right away. Here are a few steps our physicians use when completing their comprehensive exams:
- We take your complete medical history to identify or rule out possible causes of your pain.
- We conduct a thorough physical exam
- We carefully review your symptoms, including how you would describe the pain (burning, achy, dull, etc.) and whether certain positions or activities make the pain feel better or worse
- We may order diagnostic tests, including x-ray, MRI or CT scan, to help us diagnose your chronic pain
Once we have an accurate diagnosis, we will work together with you to create a treatment plan that will effectively address your lower back pain.
Possible Treatments For Lower Back Pain
We provide a wide range of treatments and therapies for lower back pain. Treatment is highly individualized and will depend on the underlying cause of pain and severity of symptoms. Available treatments include:
- Biofeedback
- Injection therapy
- Spinal cord stimulation
- Intrathecal Pumps
- Vertebroplasty and Kyphoplasty
- Radiofrequency ablation
- Trigger point injection
- Epidural steroid injection
- Alternative therapies
- Medication management