As many as 16 million Americans suffer from chronic back pain, a medical problem that affects all ages. Though some back pain resolves on its own or with a little TLC, chronic back pain is persistent, taking a huge toll on your activities and your life.
Although there are surgical treatments that can help relieve back pain, they aren’t always the ideal solution. Long-term use of medicines can also help, but they can cause their own unpleasant side effects, and over time, they can wind up being ineffective.
Fortunately, other options don’t involve surgery or long-term use of medications. The key is working with a provider with plenty of experience, so you can enjoy the benefits of a custom therapy plan tailored to your needs.
At Easy Reach Chiropractic, Barbara Adonis, DC, and Heather Previll, PT, DPT, offer several options for chronic back pain in patients at their practices in Lake Worth and Fort Lauderdale, Florida. In this post, they offer a quick overview of three of the most popular nonsurgical options that could help you finally find relief for your nagging, sore back.
Acoustic shockwave therapy uses low-intensity energy waves administered through a special applicator to relieve pain involving your joints, tendons, ligaments, muscles, and other tissues. As the energy is absorbed, it helps stimulate circulation and enhance natural healing, repairing damaged tissue and promoting new cell and blood vessel growth.
Data show this therapy is quite effective in reducing chronic back pain and the depression that sometimes goes along with it. Most patients benefit from a series of treatments tailored to their symptoms.
Your spine is the conduit for all your nerves as they travel from your brain to every other part of your body. These nerves exit your spine at specific locations before branching out to your organs, limbs, and other areas. If you have a problem with a spine disc or a joint in your spine, the nerve can become compressed, leaving you with chronic back pain, and often pain in other parts of your body, as well.
Spinal decompression therapy can be an excellent choice for anyone who has pain as a result of spinal nerve impingement. In this therapy, you lie on a special table while your spine is gently stretched, relieving pressure on your nerves. This therapy can also help improve circulation in and around your discs for better overall spine health.
Class 4 laser therapy uses laser energy to painlessly penetrate your skin and target damaged tissues. Once the laser energy is absorbed, it goes to work stimulating natural healing responses deep within your tissues.
Laser therapy achieves its benefits through a process called photobiomodulation, using light to stimulate biological responses. For chronic back pain, laser therapy relieves inflammation, boosts cellular metabolism, reduces painful muscle spasms, and improves circulation for optimal healing.
In addition to avoiding surgery, these options can be combined with other therapies, including chiropractic adjustments and massage therapy, to target the underlying cause of your pain in addition to relieving your symptoms. To learn more about nonsurgical treatment of back pain and other types of chronic pain, book an appointment online or over the phone with the team at Easy Reach Chiropractic today.
