Lower Back Pain: When is Surgery Needed?

Lower back pain

Lower back pain is the most common symptom prompting people to consult their doctors. This can be due by a variety of causes, such as:

• Degenerative disc disease from previous injury, surgery or excessive sitting
• Injury to the muscles or ligaments due to sports or heavy lifting

Injury to the bone due to high energy trauma, such as when there is a great impact to the body after a fall from height or vehicle accident

• Spinal instability and stenosis (narrowing of the spaces within the spine, most commonly due to wear and tear)
• Spinal joint inflammation from excessive standing and walking
• Other less common causes like infection, cancer originating from the spine, or metastasis (cancer spreading to the spine from somewhere else in the body)

Lower back pain that persists for more than a month is termed chronic. Chronic may be accompanied by other symptoms that shoots down the leg (sciatica), a pins and needles sensation, numbness and weakness of the legs. There may also be limitation in walking due to leg pain or cramping (claudication).

How is lower back pain diagnose?

To determine the cause of your สมัครสมาชิก UFABET วันนี้ รับเครดิตฟรีทุกวัน lower back pain, the doctor will first take a detailed medical history and perform a thorough physical examination. The doctor may also request for diagnostic tests, such as X-rays, computerised tomography (CT) scan, magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) or blood tests.

Once the diagnosis is confirmed, the doctor will advise you on the appropriate treatment. There is no “textbook” method in determining treatment because no two patients are the same. The doctor will take into consideration your age, occupation, lifestyle, existing medical conditions, as well as the duration and severity of the symptoms.

What are the treatment options?

Many patients think that surgeons will recommend surgery for their. However, in 90% of the cases, conservative management is recommended and can improve symptoms.

Conservative or non-surgical management includes:

• Activity and lifestyle modifications
• Acupuncture
• Ergonomic changes to daily activities (rearranging objects and spaces to make movement and body position more comfortable)
• Medication
• Physiotherapy
• Posture changes
• Weight loss