Don’t Let Lower Back Pain Get You Down

Lower back pain can be debilitating and can cause you to skip work and personal life obligations, but you can find low back pain relief. Did you know that back pain is one of the most common reasons that people have to visit the doctor and miss work? Here are some alarming statistics from The Good Body:

• Approximately 80% of Americans will experience back problems 
• More than 1 in 3 adults say back pain impacts everyday activities, including sleep
• Americans spend $50 billion annually on treating back pain

You have options when it comes to relieving pain in low back. Keep reading to see how Interventional Pain Associates can help. 

What Causes Lower Back Pain?

Back pain can happen suddenly, or it can slowly get worse over a period of time. Not only does this pain affect your back, but it can also affect your torso, hips, and/or legs. Common causes of back pain are often:

• Injury: when you overuse these muscles or have trauma caused to them it can cause pain. This can happen from accidents, sports injuries, lifting heavy objects, or repetitively overusing that muscle
• Disc problems: disc problems involve small tears, hernias, or degeneration in the discs on the spine 
• Spinal stenosis: spinal stenosis is when the space surrounding your spinal cord narrows which puts pressure on the nerves
• Scoliosis: a condition in which the spine curves in a ’s’ or ‘c’ shaped way
• Pregnancy: pregnant women can develop low back pain 
• Sedentary lifestyle: sitting often and not exercising regularly can cause low back pain 
• Overweight: when the excess weight causes pressure on your lower back

How to Treat Lower Back Pain

Dr. Saleemi and Interventional Pain Associates will develop an individualized treatment plan to help you find relief from your pain. When you come to your appointment, a complete assessment of your symptoms, health history, and goals will be conducted. Over-the-counter medication can help you relieve minor pain, but other pain management plans might be apart of your new treatment plan. 

We offer non-invasive treatment options to help you recover from back pain without the need of surgery. 

• Interventional procedures: pain management techniques including steroid therapy, spinal cord stimulation, anesthetic medicine injections, or drug delivery systems to target a specific area of the body
• Physical therapy: specific stretching, massage, stimulation, or other techniques can help relieve pressure on your lower back and in turn reduce inflammation 

Though some doctors might suggest surgery is the best option for your pain, we recommend that you try non-surgical treatment methods for 6-12 months before deciding to go through with a surgical procedure or not. 

Can You Prevent Back Pain?

To a certain extent, you can prevent back pain by maintaining correct posture, lifting with your legs and not your back, and having a strong core. To keep your back healthy, the National Institute of Health says to be sure to:

• Stretch before exercising
• Keep good posture, refrain from slouching and keep weight evenly distributed when standing on your feet
• Focus on ergonomics, which is about fitting your workplace to your needs to increase efficiency and reduce discomfort 
• Wear comfortable, supportive shoes 
• Sleep on a firm service and try sleeping in a fetal position to help relieve pressure in the spine 
• Don’t lift heavily and make sure you have proper technique when having to do so
• Eat right to maintain a healthy weight
• Quit smoking to help encourage blood flow to the lower spine 

You would rather prevent low back pain rather than try to treat it when it gets bad. Sticking to these tips will help you support your back – and your back support you. 

Get Relief with Interventional Pain Associates

Here at Interventional Pain Associates, we will work with you using non-invasive options to help you find relief from your low back pain without needing surgery. If you’re ready to recover from low back pain, request an appointment today or call us at (512)-795-7575.