What are common causes of back pain?
Your backbone is made up of a complex network of ligaments, joints, muscles, and bones that support a wide range of movement. Your backbone also connects your brain to your internal organs through the network of nerves that have roots in your spine. Injury or overuse of any of these parts of your back can result in back pain.
Most back pain is a symptom of other medical conditions, such as:
- Strain from overuse
- Accidents or injuries
- Disk disease
- Physical irregularities
- Arthritis
- Osteoporosis
Back pain can also develop in patients who have bad lifestyle habits. Being overweight, smoking, getting irregular exercise, and constantly slouching can all increase your chances of developing back pain.
How do you diagnose back pain?
At Piedmont Interventional Spine & Pain Center, your provider performs a comprehensive physical exam to determine the cause of your back pain. In addition, the practice uses advanced diagnostic tools like X-ray-guided spinal injections to determine the exact cause and location of your back pain.
During a spinal injection procedure, your provider injects anesthesia directly into suspect joints or nerves that may be the cause of your pain. If the pain subsides, it indicates the source of your pain, and your specialist develops a treatment accordingly.
The practice uses epidural injections to target specific nerves and facet joint injections to determine if your pain is from the joint or nerves that carry signals from that joint.
Your provider creates a customized treatment plan for your needs, based on the results of your diagnostic tests.
How do you treat back pain?
At Piedmont Interventional Spine & Pain Center your treatment can include various options, like:
Epidural injections
Epidural injections deliver anti-inflammatory medication into the epidural space that surrounds and protects your spinal cord.
Facet joint injections
Facet joint injections supply medication into and around your facet joints, which are the small joints located between each vertebra. These injections are commonly used to treat pain due to arthritis or other degenerative conditions.
Sacroiliac joint injections
SI joint injections are X-ray-guided injections of medications like steroids and local anesthetic into your sacroiliac joints to provide pain relief.
Radiofrequency ablation
This minimally-invasive treatment, also known as rhizotomy, uses targeted heat treatments to reduce pain in pinpointed areas.
Most injection therapy is combined with physical therapy to help you regain strength and mobility in your back. The practice can refer you to trusted physical therapists in your area for these injection therapy options.
To learn more about the various treatment options for back pain, call the office, or use the online scheduling tool to book your appointment today.
