How to Relieve Back Pain Fast – What Surgery Does
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“How to Relieve Back Pain Fast?” It is a common question asked by many people who suffer from acute or chronic spinal pain. Back pain is a common health condition characterized by dull, throbbing aches, sharp shooting pain.
It can result from osteoarthritis, a ruptured disc, degenerative diseases, accident, exercise, poor posture. Neurological symptoms associated with back pain are tingling and numbness.
For instance, lower back pain often results from ligament or muscle strain, a sudden awkward movement, heavy lifting, poor physical condition, etc. All these can cause pressure on your spinal muscles and ligaments, leading to discomfort and pain.
How to Relieve Back Pain Fast
Back pain usually gets better within a few days. However, it is a complex condition, meaning if the symptoms persist for a few weeks, you must consult your doctor. There are different treatment options available for back pain.
These include natural remedies, home treatments, medication, physical therapy, steroidal injections, and back pain surgery. If you want to know how to relieve back pain fast, you are in the right place. Next, we will give you some treatment options.
Over-the-Counter (OTC) Drugs
The most OTC drugs used to relieve back pain are NSAIDs, such as ibuprofen and naproxen. The medications reduce cyclooxygenase production, an enzyme that makes prostaglandins, which increase pain and discomfort.
Muscle Relaxants
Besides NSAIDs, you can take muscle relaxants to soothe your spinal muscles. However, these medications can cause side effects, such as dizziness, fatigue, and nausea. Make sure you don’t use muscle relaxants for a long time.
Narcotics
Opioids or narcotics are medications used to treat back pain. Your doctor will prescribe these medications when OTC and muscle relaxants fail to provide relief. Although these medications effectively reduce acute back pain, they don’t work well for chronic spinal pain. Besides, people who take narcotics have a higher tendency to develop dependency or addiction.
Physical Therapy
How to relieve back pain fast with physical therapy? An experienced physical therapist can teach you specific spinal exercises to strengthen your back and abdominal muscles. Physical therapy exercises can also improve your posture and increase your flexibility. When you perform exercises regularly, you can quickly relieve back pain.
Epidural Steroid Injections
Epidural Steroid injections have excellent anti-inflammatory effects. Your doctor will prescribe you these injections to relieve back pain fast. These injections suppress pain signals from swelled nerves in your spine and improve function in your lumbar spine and legs. Bear in mind that these injections provide short-term pain relief.
Back Pain Surgery
Back pain surgery is an advanced option to relieve discomfort or treat a chronic condition. Your doctor or neurosurgeon will suggest back surgery when conservative treatment options fail to provide relief.
There are two broad categories of spinal surgeries: open-back surgery and minimally invasive neurosurgery. Open-back surgery is a traditional method that requires the surgeon to make a large incision of about 6 inches long.
The surgeon dissects the muscles in your spine. The process is known as a retraction. Once the surgeon visualizes the spinal bones, he or she begins the procedure. Open-back surgery involves a large incision, which increases infection risks. It also leads to increased blood loss during the procedure.
Dissection of spinal muscles leads to decreased mobility and increased rehabilitation period. Open-back surgery may also disrupt delicate structures in your spine, increases the risks of nerve-related conditions.
Minimally Invasive Neurosurgery
It is an advanced technique used to treat a wide range of spinal conditions, such as:
- Degenerative Disc Disease
- Herniated Disc
- Scoliosis
- Spinal deformities
- Sciatica
- Spinal Stenosis
- Spinal Infections
- Vertebral Compression Fracture
- Spondylolisthesis
- Spinal Tumors
There are different types of minimally invasive neurosurgery, such as lateral interbody fusion, posterior thoracic fusion, PLIF, TLIF, XLIF, Vertebroplasty, Kyphoplasty, Discectomy, Foraminotomy, Nucleoplasty, laminectomy, and others. Each surgery type depends on particular spinal conditions and the patient’s symptoms.
The primary goal of minimally invasive neurosurgery is to stabilize your vertebral bones, joints and relieve pressure on nerves. Unlike open-back surgery, research shows that minimally invasive neurosurgery is a much more sophisticated approach.
It requires the surgeon to make a tiny incision in the abdomen or spine to reach the spinal muscles. Here at MINT, the procedure is performed by a team of experienced and professional vascular and neurosurgeons.
Because it involves smaller incisions, there is less risk of blood loss, trauma, and scarring. Minimally invasive spinal surgery has higher accuracy rates than open-back procedures. Besides, the patient does not undergo a longer rehabilitation period.
MINT has a state-of-the-art facility equipped with the latest equipment. Our experienced neurosurgeons follow the standards and protocols to perform the surgery adequately. If you want to know how to relieve back pain fast, contact MINT today, and our qualified neurosurgeon will give you effective treatment options.