The Road to Back Pain Relief

Have you ever suffered through sharp back spasms or miserable, dull backaches? You’re not alone. Back pain is a leading cause of disability worldwide, with eight in ten U.S. adults experiencing it at some point. Left untreated, it can disrupt your work, hobbies, relationships, and overall quality of life.

While most mild back pain cases resolve within weeks, if you are among the many dealing with severe or chronic pain, understanding your treatment options is key to finding relief.

When to Seek Care

Knowing when to seek specialized care for back pain can be challenging. However, certain symptoms may indicate that it’s time to contact a healthcare provider:

• Pain not relieved with traditional methods (e.g., icing, stretching, and over-the-counter pain relievers)
• Numbness or tingling in your back or legs
• Difficulty moving your back, legs, head, neck, arms, or shoulders
• Headaches
• Pain that radiates into other areas, such as your legs, arms, hips, or feet, which may indicate a nerve problem
• Stiffness in your legs or spine
• A personal history of cancer

Some symptoms may require more urgent attention. Elyne Kahn, MD, a neurosurgeon with Trinity Health IHA Medical Group, notes that the following "red flag" symptoms with back pain can signal serious issues and warrant prompt evaluation:

• Fever
• Weakness in the legs
• Loss of bowel or bladder control

Treatment Options

While there are measures to help ease or prevent back pain, some cases require additional care. The Trinity Health Spine Program’s team of experts is here to help, providing comprehensive evaluation, care coordination, and a variety of treatment options. Below, we will explore the four primary treatment options for back pain.

Physical Therapy

Physical therapy is often the first recommendation for chronic or severe back pain. Physical therapists develop treatment plans tailored to patients' needs, lifestyles, and abilities. They use a variety of techniques to alleviate pain, such as:

• Targeted exercises and stretches.
• Manual therapy, such as soft tissue massage.
• Cold and heat therapy.
• Electrical stimulation.
• Manual therapy, a type of specialized hands-on therapy.
• Patient education.

By addressing the root causes of discomfort and giving patients sustainable at-home strategies, our expert physical therapists provide safe, non-invasive ways to relieve pain.

Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation (PM&R)

PM&R physicians, or physiatrists, are experts in diagnosing and treating conditions that limit function or cause pain. As Anita Bell, DO, a physiatrist with Trinity Health Medical Group, explains, “The ultimate goal [of PM&R] is not just pain improvement, but restoration of function and improvement of quality of life."

After thoroughly evaluating patients, physiatrists develop personalized treatment plans that may include home exercises, medications, and injections. They also refer patients to other specialties as needed, such as osteopathic manipulative medicine, physical therapy, and neurosurgery. Dr. Bell describes physiatrists as akin to “quarterbacks,” as they are team players who coordinate multidisciplinary care to help patients overcome back pain.

Injections

For pain that persists after conservative treatments, injections can be a helpful next step. According to Dr. Bell, injections can be classified into two main categories:

• Steroid injections work by delivering powerful anti-inflammatory medication directly to the affected area.
• Non-steroid injections use other mechanisms to ease pain. A common example is radiofrequency ablation, which disrupts pain signals by using heat.

Highly trained experts deliver these injections, often using real-time imaging to guide the needle. Depending on the patient's specific condition, a wide variety of injection options are available to provide targeted relief.

Surgery

Finally, spine surgery can be highly effective but requires careful consideration. Dr. Kahn explains, "The first question is, does this patient have a condition that could be treated effectively with surgery? And then the next question is, has the patient exhausted appropriate nonsurgical treatments for their condition?" If the answer to both questions is yes, surgery may be the right option.

The type of surgery recommended depends on the underlying cause of pain. "The two broad categories are decompression-based surgeries, where the primary goal is a decompression of nerves, versus surgeries where the primary goal is stabilization of the bones of the spine," shares Dr. Kahn. Decompression surgeries include procedures like laminectomies and microdiscectomies, while stabilization surgeries include treatments such as spinal fusions and spinal deformity corrections.

At Trinity Health Michigan, specialists use cutting-edge techniques, such as robot-assisted and minimally invasive surgeries, to reduce incision size, speed recovery time, and optimize results.

Trinity Health Spine Program

The Trinity Health Spine Program brings together a multidisciplinary team of experts to provide extraordinary care for people facing back pain. Our dedicated nurse navigators guide you throughout your journey, working closely with you and our specialists to ensure seamless collaboration and communication. With their support and our team's expertise, you'll receive a personalized treatment plan designed to achieve the best possible outcomes for your condition.

You deserve a life free from the limitations of back pain. Ready to take the first step? To request an appointment with a back pain specialist, visit trinityhealthmi.org/backpain.