Here’s 4 steps to Relief of Pain

Have back or neck pain? If so, you are not alone. Four out of five Americans have a back pain attack at some point in their lives. And once you have your first back pain attack, you are four times more likely to have a recurrence. Sadly, most people spend a lifetime going from one clinic to another, from one gimmick treatment to another, all in a search for relief from nagging attacks of back and neck pain. Colorado Spine Partners is referred the most complex patients from across the Colorado region. Fact: One of every four new patients coming to Colorado Spine Partners are people who have had back surgery ELSEWHERE and still have pain symptoms. Failed back surgery is more complicated to treat than if they had gone to the right specialist initially.

If you have back or neck pain, GET INFORMED before you make your problem worse. Get back to activity with these four steps:

1: Don’t take back pain lying down!

If you have a painful back spasm, it’s okay to lay down and relax with some anti-inflammatories — for a day. But research shows the sooner you can get moving again, even with a 20 minute walk, the faster you will recover. That’s because your back needs movement to get circulation to sore tissues.

2: Get specialist advice fast when symptoms worsen

If your symptoms haven’t improved with a week of home remedies, or if you have radiating pain into an arm or leg, it’s time to see a spine specialist. Other emergency symptoms — weakness or numbness in a hand or foot or loss of bowel/bladder control — are all emergency symptoms that should be seen by a spine center within 48 hours to prevent permanent problems.

3: Spine surgery? Get a 2nd opinion 1st

Colorado Spine Partners has a variety of treatment options designed to relieve back and neck pain symptoms. If surgery is necessary, the spine center has fellowship-trained orthopedic surgeons (the highest level of medical education in the U.S.) who are proficient in the latest spine surgery techniques.

As a commitment to quality, Colorado Spine Partners was one of the first spine centers in the state to publish a Clinical Outcome Report Card for insurance companies.

If you’ve been told you need spine surgery, the smartest move for you is to get a second opinion first. Why bother? Because a second opinion may reveal that you don’t need spine surgery at all, or at least not the fusion surgery someone else recommended.

4: Beware gimmicks, magic pills and laser spine surgery

Americans all desire a quick fix from back pain, a magic pill, a quick surgery, a special “laser” technique. While the fascination with lasers might be fine for Star Wars, consider that while a laser might be fine for slicing through metal, using one to operate around one’s spinal cord may not be the right choice.