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I hurt my back when I twisted wrong coming down a slide at a theme park. The doctor I saw told me to rest for a day, use ice, and then start moving again. Said I should be good as new in a week or two. Well it's been two months and every day I pray for a miracle. The pain brings me to tears some days. Why do they tell people this stuff if it's not true?
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Some new and important discoveries are being made about low back pain. For example, it used to be said over and over that eight out of 10 people would suffer a bout of back pain at least once in their lifetime. That's still true. But the next part of the story may not be so true.
Based on the best evidence available, doctors have been advised to tell their patients that with a short period of rest followed by as much activity as tolerated, the pain would go away in one to two weeks. That's still true, too -- but not for everyone. In fact, some recent studies have reported that three out of every four back pain patients still have back pain three to 12 months later.
A closer look helps explain some of these statistics. Advanced imaging and neurophysiologic and precision diagnostic techniques have shown scientists that spine pain can come from more than one place. Pain could be from the muscles, ligaments, discs, joints, or a combination of two or more of those places.
If your injury damaged more than one area of the spine and possibly even several different types of soft tissues, recovery may be much slower and require more time and attention than a simple muscle strain. Since each one of these areas requires a slightly different approach, one treatment method may not be effective. In fact, that probably explains why there are so many different ways to treat chronic low back pain. Some are nonoperative while others involve complex and challenging surgeries.
If you have not been back for a medical evaluation since your original injury, it would be a good idea to have some additional testing done to find out what's going on. The more closely your problem can be identified, the better the chances are for a successful recovery. Treatment must be matched as closely as possible to the underlying anatomical and biomechanical problems.
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*Disclaimer:*The information contained herein is compiled from a variety of sources. It may not be complete or timely. It does not cover all diseases, physical conditions, ailments or treatments. The information should NOT be used in place of visit with your healthcare provider, nor should you disregard the advice of your health care provider because of any information you read in this topic. |
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