BACK PAIN SYMPTOMS & CONDITIONS

This condition is an irritation or compression of one or more nerve roots in the cervical spine. Because these nerves travel to the shoulders, arms and hands, an injury in the cervical spine can cause symptoms in these areas. Cervical radiculopathy may result from a variety of problems with the bones and tissues of the cervical spinal column.

Lower back pain affects people of all activity levels and ages. Did you know that lower back pain is among the leading causes of disability? Well, this is according to a recent study by the Global Burden of Disease. Today we will take a comprehensive look at everything you need to know about lower back pain.

If you have severe and debilitating pain that gets in the way of your daily life, it is time to seek answers and treatment. One possible cause of chronic pain is called complex regional pain syndrome. Complex regional pain syndrome (CRPS) is a rare condition where a person experiences debilitating and persistent pain.

Discography is considered for patients who, despite extensive treatments, have disabling lower back pain, groin pain, hip pain, and/or leg pain. When a variety of spinal diagnostic procedures have failed to elucidate the primary pain generator, these individuals may benefit from lumbar discography especially if spine surgery is contemplated. The lumbar discogram is designed to locate pain in a sensitive disc. A spinal fusion procedure that is designed to obliterate an internally disrupted, painful disc (pain generator) would not be the procedure of choice if pressurization of the disc didn’t reproduce the patient’s clinical discomfort. The spine surgeon needs to be absolutely sure that the level or levels being fused are responsible for the patient’s pain.

A cervical, thoracic or lumbar facet joint injection involves injecting a small amount of numbing agent and steroid medication, which can anesthetize the facet joints and block the pain. The pain relief from a facet joint injection is normally intended to help a patient better tolerate a physical therapy routine to rehabilitate his or her injury or back condition.

Discs are located between each vertebra in the spine, and they act as shock absorbers to protect the bones. A herniated disc, also known as a slipped disc, occurs when a fragment of the disc nucleus gets pushed out to the outer layer called the annulus. It can happen in any part of the spine but will often develop in the lower back and neck.

An intrathecal pump is used to relieve chronic pain by inserting small amounts of medicine directly into the intrathecal space. The intrathecal space is the area surrounding the spinal cord. The medicine prevents pain signals from being perceived by the brain. A temporary pump is commonly utilized to evaluate effectiveness before a permanent pump is implemented.

Epidural steroid injections (ESIs) are a common treatment option for many forms of low back pain and leg pain. At The Pain Center patients have reported low back pain relief. Epidural steroid injections are an integral part of the non-surgical management of sciatica and low back pain. The goal of the injection is pain relief; at times the injection alone is sufficient to provide relief, but commonly an epidural steroid injection is used in combination with a comprehensive rehabilitation program can provide additional benefit.

This outpatient procedure is an injection of a steroid-anesthetic medication. Lumbar Transforaminal Epidural Steroid Injection can be performed in Boise or Caldwell. The medication can reduce swelling and inflammation of irritated spinal nerves. This procedure is performed to relieve pain in the lower back and pain that radiates from the back to the legs. The injection takes only a few minutes to complete.

Lumbar radiofrequency ablation is a non-surgical procedure that uses radiofrequency waves to target nerve fibers. The nerve fibers are ablated, or burned, to interrupt the pain signals that are being sent to the brain. People with chronic neck, back, or joint arthritis pain may be candidates for the procedure.

Your provider places tiny electrodes above the nerves causing your chronic pain. The electrodes are connected to a microchip that sends mild electrical impulses into the nerve. These impulses block the pain signals, preventing them from reaching your brain.

Patients that have had a laminectomy may experience chronic back pain as a result of bone or soft tissue that presses on nerves. This condition, also called "failed back syndrome," is a type of chronic pain. It can develop in some people after spine surgery.

Medial Branch Block is a diagnostic procedure that can be accomplished in Boise or Caldwell by our pain management doctors. Medial Branch Block is performed to identify a painful facet joint. The facet joints are the joints between the vertebrae in the spine. They allow the spine to bend, flex and twist.

Spinal cord stimulation can be performed in Boise and Caldwell. Spinal cord stimulation (also called SCS) uses electrical impulses to relieve chronic pain of the back, arms and legs. It is believed that electrical pulses prevent pain signals from being received by the brain. SCS candidates include people who suffer from neuropathic pain and for whom conservative treatments have failed.

Spinal cord stimulation can be performed in Boise and Caldwell. Spinal cord stimulation (also called SCS) uses electrical impulses to relieve chronic pain of the back, arms and legs. It is believed that electrical pulses prevent pain signals from being received by the brain. SCS candidates include people who suffer from neuropathic pain and for whom conservative treatments have failed.

Spinal cord stimulation can be performed in Boise and Caldwell. Spinal cord stimulation (also called SCS) uses electrical impulses to relieve chronic pain of the back, arms and legs. It is believed that electrical pulses prevent pain signals from being received by the brain. SCS candidates include people who suffer from neuropathic pain and for whom conservative treatments have failed.

Spinal cord stimulation can be performed in Boise and Caldwell. Spinal cord stimulation (also called SCS) uses electrical impulses to relieve chronic pain of the back, arms and legs. It is believed that electrical pulses prevent pain signals from being received by the brain. SCS candidates include people who suffer from neuropathic pain and for whom conservative treatments have failed.

A thoracic epidural injection delivers steroids into the epidural space around spinal nerve roots to relieve pain. This procedure focuses on treating upper back pain caused by irritated spinal nerves. The steroid used in the epidural steroid injection reduces the inflammation of those nerves, which is often the source of the pain.

Thoracic Facet Radiofrequency Neurotomy is a minimally-invasive procedure that can address upper back pain. Our physicians use heat from radio waves to treat painful facet joints in your upper back. This procedure is also called radiofrequency rhizotomy. It can treat pain that doesn't respond to medications or to physical therapy.

Thoracic Transforaminal Epidural Steroid Injection can be performed in Boise and Caldwell. This injection procedure relieves pain in the upper back, ribs, and abdomen caused by a pinched nerve (or nerves) in the thoracic spine. Extended pain relief usually begins within two to three days of the injection. Some patients may need only one injection, but two or three injections may be needed to provide significant pain relief.

The spinal column contains open spaces that create passageways for the spinal cord and the spinal nerves. Spinal stenosis is a narrowing of (or an intrusion into) these openings. This can cause a compression of the nerves. Spinal stenosis most commonly affects the cervical and lumbar regions of the spine.

Although upper back pain is not as common as lower back pain, it can cause significant pain and discomfort. Understand that upper back pain has different causes, which means that it affects every individual differently.