4 Common Back Pain Types, Their Conditions and Treatments
The pain in your neck or back is getting worse. Standing for longer than a few minutes is increasingly painful. Your arm went numb trying to pour a cup of coffee. Your neck has become so stiff that turning your head is difficult. Sound familiar? It’s time to see a doctor. While you’ve accepted that you need to have your symptoms looked at, the thought of needing spine surgery can be daunting. This is why NJ Spine & Orthopedic offers quick and simple minimally invasive alternatives to traditional orthopedic surgery. The first step towards a pain-free life is diagnosing the cause of your aches and pains. Read our common back pain symptoms checker to help you understand your pain and see what it could mean for you: Symptom #1: Chronic neck pain, with difficulty turning neck In many cases, this pain is frequent and hampers daily life. Neck pain and tingling in the arms are common, along with the inability to turn the head from side to side. Pain and tingling may also occur in the lower back, causing back pain that can spread into the upper legs. These symptoms may grow worse with everyday movements such as twisting, bending, reaching or lifting. What it could be: Degenerative Disc Disease Increasing age most often causes disc degeneration, although one does not have to be elderly to have it. The condition is caused by normal changes in the spine as aging occurs, and is one of the most common causes of back pain in middle-aged and older adults. How it’s treated: If medication, physical therapy and lifestyle changes aren’t enough to correct the pain, a minimally invasive cervical procedure known as Cervical Artificial Disc Replacement is recommended. A small one-centimeter incision is made along the back of the neck to remove the existing, degenerated disc and replaced by a new disc designed to work with the natural motion of the spine. Symptom #2: Leg pain that extends down the back of the leg You have pain that originates in the lower back, but is much worse in the legs. The pain travels from the buttocks area down the back of the leg. Sufferers of this condition have trouble standing and typically feel better when lying down or walking. What it could be: Sciatica Sciatica, or sciatic nerve pain, is one of several conditions that result from a herniated disc—which has a number of different symptoms depending on where it’s located. This condition is one of the most common to result from a herniated disc, caused by the damaged disc’s pressure on the sciatic nerve until it becomes a chronic condition. Many will confuse symptoms of Sciatica with a leg problem. How it’s treated: As with disc degeneration, an Endoscopic Discectomy is also used for Sciatica to remove part of the herniated disc causing the sciatic nerve pain. Symptom #3: Severe pain in the lower back This pain gets worse and worse over time, especially when standing for long periods. Bending forward