What You Should Know About Treating Your Spinal Pain
If you have been experiencing spinal pain, you know that it can affect every aspect of your life, from your work to your home life. Even sleeping can be painful and difficult when you have spinal pain. When you finally break down and decide to go to the doctor for your spinal pain, you may be wondering what you can or should expect from the treatment process. Get to know more about spinal pain treatment options. Then, you can be prepared to discuss your options with your doctor at your appointment.
Bed Rest or General Rest
One of the ways that spinal pain can be treated is simply with rest. Your doctor will order you on bed rest or in some cases, general rest. You will need to refrain from any strenuous activities and try to remain laying down or in bed as much as possible (with exceptions for eating and going to the bathroom, etc.).
This bed rest can last a short period of time, such as one or up to three days. Usually, longer periods of rest are not required or recommended. During this period, you will be allowing your back the time it needs to heal and recover from whatever injury may have occurred.
Over-the-Counter or Prescription Pain Medications
Another treatment option for spinal pain is over-the-counter pain medications. More often than not, doctors will recommend non-steroidal anti-inflammatory medications (NSAIDs) like ibuprofen to help reduce pain and inflammation in the back.
If you have already been using over-the-counter pain medications and they are not helping with your pain, your doctor may prescribe something stronger to help with your spinal pain treatment. This can include other anti-inflammatory drugs or may include pain medications like oxycodone and others.
Physical Therapy
If the pain is severe and/or persistent even with treatment, your doctor may recommend you try physical therapy for your back pain. This will help to strengthen and stretch the muscles around the spine, allowing them to provide the spinal column with greater support. Physical therapy can also help you to learn to cope with chronic pain while working to reduce the amount of pain as much as possible.
Surgery
In some cases, the only solution for your spinal pain will be surgery. If you have a herniated disc that will not heal, for example, this may require surgery. Spinal surgery is usually left as a last resort in treatment because it is invasive and the recovery can be somewhat long. However, it can be a lasting and permanent solution to spinal pain caused by spinal injuries.
Now that you know some of the options for treating your spinal pain, you can be better prepared to discuss what you want to do with your doctor.
For more information about spinal pain treatment, talk to your doctor.
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