As people age, their back goes through many changes that cause pain. These changes will make you want to find a back specialist. Back pain involves discs losing moisture and bulging out in the center, and there's increased stiffness in the facet joints that join vertebrae together. Fortunately for people, many of these issues can be managed with the right health care. If you have a bad back, a Kettering back specialist will help you get through it.
A back specialist can provide a number of benefits to both the patient and the healthcare system. First, back pain specialists are trained to diagnose and treat back pain. In addition, they can help prevent costly long-term disabilities by ensuring that appropriate treatments are used early on. Let us delve more into back pain.
Why you need to see a back pain specialist
The problem is that many people think of back pain as a minor ailment that can be easily cured. In reality, back pain is often the result of a serious condition that requires a back pain specialist immediately. The following are some of the most common causes of back pain:
- Sprains and strains. These are the most common injuries affecting the spine. They occur when muscles or ligaments become overstretched or torn from their attachments to bones. The resulting injury may cause bruising, swelling, and tenderness in the injured area.
The severity of these injuries depends on several factors including how much force was applied to your body, age, and overall physical condition. Most strains and sprains heal on their own within a few days to weeks depending on their severity but it's important to see a back pain specialist to be sure.
- Slipped disc. Discs act as cushions between vertebrae in your spine. When these discs bulge out or rupture, they can press against nearby nerves causing severe pain in the lower back region as well as numbness or weakness in the legs or arms.
A back pain specialist will need to do a check-up because in some cases, surgery may be required to remove this part of the disc that has moved out of place in order for it not to continue pressing against nearby nerves causing persistent discomfort.
Back pain, recognize the signs
You might be tempted to ignore the warning signs of back pain. But doing so could lead to more severe problems. Here are signs that you need a back specialist:
- You have pain that doesn’t get better with over-the-counter pain relievers. These medicines can provide temporary relief, but they don’t treat the underlying cause of your pain. See a back pain specialist because this means your symptoms may come back once the medicine wears off.
- Your back is stiff and sore for more than a week after an injury or sports injury like skiing, tennis, or running. Again, a few days of rest and over-the-counter drugs may help relieve some of your discomforts, but if it lasts longer than about two weeks, seek medical attention from a back pain specialist as soon as possible because there’s likely something more serious going on in your back besides muscle strain or sprain.
- You have numbness in your legs while sitting down or walking around. This is another sign that something more serious could be going on in your spine.
QC Kinetix (Kettering)
500 Lincoln Park Blvd, Suite 206, Kettering, OH, 45429
(937) 936-0325