Finding Relief from Chronic Back Pain

Living with chronic back pain can take a physical, emotional and financial toll on you, sapping the enjoyment out of life by preventing you from taking part in activities you enjoy.

You’re not alone. Chronic back pain is a leading cause of disability in the U.S., with millions of Americans battling a range of back injuries and conditions every year.

Worldwide, back pain is estimated to have an economic cost of up to $100 billion. That includes both the direct medical expenses and related costs, including lost workdays and lower productivity.

Chronic Back Pain Causes

In most instances, back pain goes away after a few weeks. But for many people, pain can linger for months or years. It can be a challenge to identify the exact cause of some back pain, which can be related to soft tissue, bones, disks or nerves. But among the most common culprits:

• Herniated disk: Also known as a ruptured disk, this condition affects one or more of the disks that act like shock absorbers between your vertebrae. If one of these disks ruptures, it can put pressure on your spinal cord and nearby nerves.
• Nerve damage: Nerves in your back can be damaged in many ways, including surgery, accidents, infections, cancer and uncontrolled diabetes.
• Arthritis: This degenerative disease causes inflammation in the joints and bones that make up your spine. The condition is common in both men and women after the age of 60.
• Surgery: Some patients are left with pain after back surgery, which can damage nerves.

How You Can Treat It

Chronic back pain isn’t always disabling. In some instances, it can be managed with over-the-counter medications such as aspirin, acetaminophen and nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs. If that’s not enough to manage the pain, your doctor may consider stronger prescription pain medications and injections with local anesthetics and steroids.

Radiofrequency ablation can also be helpful. This minimally invasive procedure uses heat to destroy nerve tissue to prevent pain signals from being sent to your brain. Your doctor applies the heat through a precisely placed needle.

Your doctor may also prescribe physical therapy. A therapist will work with you to develop a set of exercises designed to improve your strength and flexibility. These exercises, when performed regularly, may relieve the pain and keep it from coming back. But physical therapy isn’t for everyone. And it’s important that you do not do anything that makes your pain worse.

Spinal Cord Stimulation

Unfortunately, some patients do not find adequate pain relief through the more conservative approaches. That’s when spinal cord stimulation may be an option.

The spinal cord stimulator is a system that’s implanted in your body. Once there, it uses a mild electrical current to target specific nerves. The goal is to block pain signals that are traveling along your spine. Think of it as a pain signal scrambler.

The system is comprised of two parts – a pulse generator and leads (tiny wires). The leads are placed along your spine, while the generator is implanted under the skin, around belt level (the exact location can vary from patient to patient.)

The implantation procedure is relatively minor. It involves two small incisions in the back and usually takes less than two hours. Most patients go home the same day. Batteries for the generator will need to be swapped out after about 10 years.

Since there is no guarantee that spinal cord stimulation will offer significant relief, your doctor will first perform a trial procedure. Instead of an implanted generator, you’ll receive a wearable version to try out for a week. It’s like test driving a car. You’ll get to see whether you like it before making a final decision.