What causes neck and back pain?
Neck and back pain often occurs when you pull one or more of the muscles, tendons, and ligaments supporting the spine (or when a disc bulges or herniates due to an accident, trauma, aging process or simply turning or bending. Your neck is especially vulnerable to whiplash injuries during auto accidents, while your lower back is more likely to suffer from the strain of heavy lifting, trauma, and repetitive activities that lead to overuse injuries.
Many people develop neck and back pain due to conditions such as:
- Slipped disc
- Herniated disc
- Facet joint arthritis
- Bone spurs
- Spinal stenosis
- Compression fractures
- Degenerative disc disease
These conditions often cause chronic pain as they pinch or inflame spinal nerves, a condition called radiculopathy.
What symptoms develop along with neck and back pain?
The conditions that cause neck pain can also lead to headaches or dizziness. Many patients with neck and back pain develop neuropathy, which is tingling, numbness, pins and needles sensation, pain, and muscle weakness that occur when a nerve is damaged.
You can feel these symptoms along the length of the affected nerve as it goes down your arms or legs. For example, sciatica occurs with a pinched sciatic nerve in your lower spine. As a result, patients often experience severe, electric-shock pain that radiates down their legs.
How are neck and back pain treated?
During your first appointment, the doctors at Pain Management Specialists of New York will review your medical history and symptoms and perform a thorough exam. Then your provider may corroborate your diagnosis with an MRI or electromyogram (EMG), which evaluates nerve, soft tissue, and muscle damage.
Treatment for neck and back pain begins with conservative therapies. Your treatment may include options such as medication, steroid injections, activity modification, physical therapy, and rehabilitation.
If your pain continues despite your initial treatment, you may benefit from an interventional procedure. Interventional medicine, which focuses on alleviating your pain by targeting the source of the problem, includes therapies such as:
- Facet joint injection
- Medial branch block
- Epidural steroid injection
- Radiofrequency ablation
- Trigger point injection
- Spinal cord stimulation
- Platelet-rich plasma (PRP) injection
Interventional pain procedures are done with a board-certified anesthesiologist who can provide sedation if indicated and so desired. If your pain is due to a damaged disc or a compression fracture, your provider at Pain Management Specialists of New York may recommend a minimally invasive procedure to repair the problem.
They have extensive experience performing C-arm fluoroscopy-guided procedures such as percutaneous discectomy, nerve blocks, radio-frequency ablation, and other pain-relieving procedures.
Don’t put up with chronic back or neck pain. Call Pain Management Specialists of New York, or book an appointment online to learn about your treatment options.
