Updated 5/16/22
Struggling with back pain is one of the common contributors to why many people call in sick at work and miss other events or activities. Most cases of lower back pain run in the short term, lasting for a few days or weeks. It is mostly mechanical, meaning a disturbance usually affects how the back’s organs and muscles fit and move together. One of the major causes of severe lower back and hip pain is when a person gets whiplash from an accident. This could make you seek emergency back pain treatment to get rid of chronic pain and research on how to make your back hurt less.
The same cannot be said for chronic back pain, however, because it usually lasts for up to 12 weeks, sometimes more even if your doctor treats an injury or hidden disease that could be triggering it. If you are suffering from chronic back pain, it is highly important that you seek medical services to get a diagnosis and get started on treatment as soon as possible.
There are various options you can choose to have your back pain treated, ranging from using specialized medications, injection procedures, Radiofrequency ablation or RFA in short and physical therapy. You can also opt for alternative methods of treatment such as acupuncture, chiropractic care, and yoga.
If you’ve ever suffered from lower back pain you know that it can be unbearable and impact on your ability to perform even the simplest of functions. Close to 30 percent of Americans indicated that lower back pain was the most common type of pain that had experienced in a survey done by the National Institutes of Health. This was followed by headaches or migraines, which accounted for 15 percent. In fact, chronic back pain is a significant problem for as much as 26 million Americans between the ages of 20 and 64. Some estimates put the number of Americans in pain of some sort at as much as a quarter of all over-20s in the United States. That’s 76.5 million people with some form of pain for more than a full day and night.
There are different types of back pain; gout, for example, affects more than 3 million people. This painful form of arthritis can really hamper quality of life. Back pain is costly, too. We shell out over $50 billion on back pain relief annually. It is not only sufferers who bear the costs, though. Estimations put the annual cost of chronic pain for the US economy at over $100 billion, taking into account lost income, productivity loss, and healthcare expenses. Chronic back pain has a real impact on America’s health.
So what can you do? If you have ever asked yourself: “what does a chiropractor do”? then the simple answer is they are back specialists who can address the management of back pain through manipulation of the spine. Given that chronic pain tends to result in trouble concentrating (70% of sufferers reported this), depleted energy levels (74%), and inability to sleep well (86%), such pain management can make a significant difference not only in the quality of life of sufferers but in their productivity as members of the workforce as well. Chronic pain also tends to result in depression and lack of enjoyment in life.
Back specialists can mean that chronic back pain become less debilitating and more manageable. Regular visits to a back specialist can ease chronic back pain as well as neck discomfort and minimize headaches, which is often an accompanying feature in cases of back or neck pain.
