Nonsurgical Back Pain Treatment
New Jersey Back Pain Relief
Your spine gives your body structure and support, allowing you to move, bend, flex and bear weight in doing all the things that you love. It also fills the crucial role of protecting the spinal cord, which is responsible for sending and receiving nerve signals throughout the body, allowing you to control your movements and feel sensations. Due to its close association with both bones and nerves, treatment for back pain can involve a blend of both the orthopedic and neurologic branches of medicine.
Since your spine provides both the mechanical structure to move as well as the “tunnel” where nerves travel from your brain to your body; your symptoms may include either back pain, nerve pain or both. Your spinal surgeon and their team can provide a tailored treatment program to manage these different types of pain.
The spine usually does its job so well that we don’t even think about it until we are in pain. Understandably, when we do experience an injury, it may be difficult to concentrate on anything other than getting quick back pain relief.
At-Home Back Pain Treatments
If you experience spinal pain due to age, overexertion from a repetitive motion, sports injury or some other cause, your symptoms may range from the discomfort of muscle aches to sharp pains, tingling or numbness. There are a few therapeutic home remedies that can be useful in providing back pain relief. Some of them include:
- Rest. Treatment for back pain should start with taking a break from exercise and strenuous activities, allowing the body to rest.
- Anti-inflammatory medication. Aspirin, ibuprofen and naproxen may be helpful in reducing inflammation to achieve back pain relief.
- Heat or cold therapy. One of the oldest known back pain treatments, the application of heat or ice is often beneficial for back pain relief. Heat therapy stimulates blood flow and helps muscles relax while cold therapy decreases blood flow to reduce inflammation.
- Stretching. Gentle stretching that can help relieve back pain by loosening up tight muscles, fostering better alignment and reducing pressure on the spine.
- Posture. Sitting up straight and walking with your shoulders back can help with back pain relief as it encourages proper alignment and support of your vertebrae and discs.
- Exercise. Once the pain and swelling have subsided, doing regular strengthening exercises with light weights and stretchy bands or practicing yoga helps build core strength. It helps build muscle and distribute weight off your bones, helping with back pain relief.
Mild neck and back pain relief may come with time and rest, but if you encounter a substantial injury or a worsening condition, you should seek medical attention.
Nonsurgical Treatments to Relieve Back Pain
Whether you suspect you have a sprain or strain, arthritis, herniated disc, spinal stenosis or are experiencing neuropathy or another ailment, a prompt diagnosis and back pain treatment will greatly improve your path to healing.
In many cases, back pain relief and recovery can be achieved with nonsurgical back pain treatments such as physical therapy. Some of the nonsurgical spinal treatments offered at our facilities throughout New Jersey include:
- Acupuncture. Many people achieve pain relief through this form of alternative medicine involving thin needles inserted into particular pressure points on the body.
- Therapeutic massage. An often-enjoyable back pain treatment, regular therapeutic massage may help by loosening up the muscles, increasing blood flow and aiding in relaxation.
- Pain medication. While not a treatment for back pain itself, prescription medication can provide valuable short-term back pain relief when over-the-counter medication does not suffice and when used as prescribed.
- Physical therapy and rehabilitation. Our spine centers offer effective back pain treatments with custom physical therapy options. These programs allow you to work one-on-one with a physical therapist to guide you through exercises and lifestyle habits to help you regain your mobility and relieve back pain.
For patients whose back and spine conditions do not respond to more minimal therapies, the following back pain treatments are often helpful in providing effective back pain relief.
- Implanted nerve stimulator. This treatment for back pain involves a small device that is implanted under the skin which delivers an electrical impulse that blocks pain signals to the affected nerves, aiding in back pain relief. This technique can be considered in patients who are not surgical candidates or for those patients still having pain despite surgery.
- Radiofrequency ablation. Ablation is a back pain treatment that involves a fine needle inserted into the skin, near the source of pain. Radio waves are delivered through the needle, causing damage to the surrounding nerve, which provides back pain relief by blocking the pain signals to the brain. This technique can be considered for patients with back pain believed to be coming from arthritic joints in the low back.
- Spinal traction. This form of back pain treatment involves spinal pressure. During a spinal traction treatment, the spine is gently stretched by a physical therapist or physical spinal traction device. By manipulating the spine, a physical therapist is able to relieve pressure on damaged spinal joints, often providing back pain relief. This technique is often used during physical therapy to help individuals with pinched nerves in their necks.
- Trigger point injections for pain management. Trigger point injections are back pain treatments that involve using a needle to apply a numbing medication and sometimes other medications directly to knots in your muscles. This injection can help the muscle relax, which aids in back pain relief and recovery.
In some cases, sufficient back pain relief cannot be achieved through nonsurgical back pain treatment methods alone. When more advanced care is needed, your doctor will recommend that you see a specialist.
Our orthopedic spine centers can provide safe and effective spinal surgery treatments that lead to lasting back pain relief and healing.
The RWJBarnabas Health Difference
At RWJBarnabas Health, we offer leading nonsurgical spine care and back pain treatments to patients from all walks of life. Our team of world-class orthopedic surgeons and neurosurgeons work one-on-one with patients to create a personalized back pain treatment plan focused on their long-term health goals.
If you have been suffering from sudden or chronic back pains, we will work to diagnose your condition and plan a treatment that works for you. We aim to treat your condition with the most noninvasive options possible.
Are you in need of back pain treatment? RWJBarnabas Health can help.