A few years ago our federal government completed a multi-million dollar study that established guidelines for treatment of low back pain. The study took several years. There was input from family practice doctors, internists, orthopedic and neurosurgeons, chiropractors, physical therapists, psychologists, exercise physiologists, occupational specialists, and a few dozen other kinds of experts. The contributors of the study reviewed thousands of documents and research findings about low back pain.
The most obvious thing that they discovered is that a lot of people have low back pain. The next thing they discovered is that there is no consensus about the best way to treat back pain. Do these findings surprise you?
If you have back pain, should you go to a chiropractor, your family doctor, a physical therapist, a massage therapist, an acupuncturist or a surgeon? Maybe you just wait and see if it gets better or take over-the-counter pills for relief. Someone at your work suggested you try cold or heat, does that work? What about those home remedies you have heard about?
Do you wonder, “What if it is something serious?” Do you feel frustrated about not knowing what to do and getting so many conflicting suggestions?
If any of the above situations apply to you or a friend or family member, this article is for you. In this multi-part series I will share information about what causes low back pain and what you can do to prevent it, reduce it or eliminate it. Low back pain is actually a very complex subject. I have shelves full of books about low back pain. (And yes, I have read a few of them.)
The very first thing you should know about back pain is that there can be many different causes. Even if your symptoms are exactly like the person across the street, there might be a very different reason for the pain. With that in mind, from this point on you can completely dismiss any simple solutions that tend to lump all back pain together. Nothing works for everyone.
That’s why there is so much disagreement about how to treat back pain. There are so many different conditions and variable presentations. Some treatments will work wonders for some people and be futile for others. Practically all imaginable treatments are helpful for some cases of back pain. Some treatments are more helpful than others. There are wide variations in the costs of treatment options, the time required for effectiveness, and potential risk of adverse effects. Some treatments are more likely to have lasting benefit, while others may be helpful, but the relief is short-lived. A few treatment options may bring quick relief, but present a risk of greater problems later on.
Some treatments are covered by most insurance carriers, and some legitimate and valuable treatments are not covered at all. Some options require multiple treatments and others are performed only once.
Low back pain is one of the most common reasons for patients to visit a doctor or therapist. The costs of treatment and lost productivity in this country are in the billions of dollars each year. It is easy to understand why the government would want to sponsor a study to find out what really works to help resolve low back pain. When you consider all the variables listed above, you can easily see why the answer to that question is complex and probably non-conclusive.
But you have access to a resource that the federal government did not have. You have the Dr. Kestner column in the Murfreesboro Post. That’s right. As astounding as it might seem, in culling the opinions of all those experts, the government failed to call on me to help. Think of the money that could have been saved! And the time. I will tell you in the next few weeks what they government took several years and spent millions of your tax dollars to learn. In fact, I will reveal a few secrets that not even the federal government has uncovered.
I’ll have more about this topic next week. Until then, keep a positive attitude… that helps all conditions!
Dr. Mark Kestner
mkestner@DrKestner.com
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