No matter whatever is the cause there were several approaches available or the treatment for back pain. All people both old and young are vulnerable to suffer from back pain. It has been estimated that almost 60-80% of the total population of the world suffer from back pain at least once. Back pain if not treated can give rise to certain complicacies in the future. Disability is one such common complication arising from untreated back pain and the incidence of such complication has increased a lot over the past 30 years. Although the gross incidence of back pain has not shown any hike. Like any other pain, there are some factors which irritate the pain receptors. The common ones are crushed nerves, muscle tightness, joint problems, ligament tears and tendon injury.
Back pain may disappear by itself with any treatment in some cases. For some simple analgesics can do the work. But the proper approach of treatment for back pain includes – exercises, medication or surgery. Medicines should be avoided as far as possible as it causes resistance. So exercise remains as the most preferable approach for treatment. Exercise includes yoga and other light stretches. Back stretches are the one that one should do every alternate day. Exercise along with hot-cold therapy is the most common method of curing back pain. In case if exercise is not possible, one may go for medications. Commonly used drugs are paracetamol, non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs or NSAIDS, muscle relaxants and simple analgesics. Drug should be consumed on if prescribed by a medical practitioner. It is contraindicated in case of pregnancy to avoid miscarriages and teratogenic effect of the drugs on foetus. Massage is the choice of treatment in case of back pain arising during pregnancy.
If all the above method fails, then surgery stays as the last approach of treating a back pain. Surgical approach is made only in the case of lumbar disc herniation, scoliosis, spinal stenosis and compression fracture. The surgical approach should only be selected if there is an emergency. The surgery mainly involves treating the underlying cause which mainly involves decompression of nerves, fusion of various body segments and in order to correct deformities. In case of malignancies induced back pain surgery is the only option. However, only about 1% of the total patient requires surgical treatment. On the course of treating back pain, several factors should be kept in mind. Some of them are like the sufferer should stay active; one should always try to refrain from complete bed rest as it may lead to oedema and worsen the back pain.
Although, back pain may seem to be a simple problem, but it is more like a ‘wolf in sheep’s clothing’, because if left untreated it could really give serious health complicacies in the later part of life. And as said earlier disability is one of the most common complicacy. It should not be neglected if the pain doesn’t subside in a week. Only a correct treatment for back pain can give relief and prevent recurrences.