Pain & Spine Centers: Offering a Wide Range of Solutions for Neck & Back Pain

By Dr. Robert A. Kayal

When you suffer from chronic neck or back pain, it’s difficult—if not impossible—to live your best life. Chronic neck or backpain is often caused by changes in the anatomy and/or mechanics of your spine. It frequently originates in one of your lumbar spinal discs—the tough, fibrous structures between your vertebrae.

Here are some of the problems that can occur:

HERNIATED DISC

This condition is the result of the soft, jelly-like interior of the disc bulging or leaking outward and then irritating nearby joints, muscles or nerve roots. If you are suffering from a herniated disc, you mostly likely will experience sharp, stabbing pain emanating down the backs of your legs. This is known as sciatica.

DEGENERATIVE DISC DISEASE

This is caused by wear and tear on your spinal discs and results in intermittent lower back pain that occurs for a few days—sometimes even weeks—before subsiding.

OSTEOARTHRITIS

This condition typically occurs in people who are 60 years old or older. It’s a breakdown in your facet joints that creates friction as you twist or bend. When the friction causes bone spurs that pinch one of your nerve roots, the result is sciatica pain. You also tend to experience tenderness and stiffness around your joint.

SPINAL STENOSIS

While back pain can occur with this condition, leg pain caused by nerve root irritation is more common. Spinal stenosis occurs when your spinal canal narrows because of a herniated disc, bone spur or other problem. It typically affects people 60 years old and older.

SACROILIAC JOINT DYSFUNCTION

If you are experiencing pain in your hips, pelvis and lower back, you could be suffering from sacroiliac joint dysfunction. Your sacroiliac joint links your ilia (hip bones) to your sacrum, which is the triangular bone at the base of your spine. This condition is caused by too much—or too little— motion in the sacroiliac joint.

SCIATICA

The sciatic nerve runs from your lower back through your hips and buttocks and then down each leg. If you have sciatica, you will experience pain along the path of the sciatic nerve. Sciatica most often occurs when a herniated disc or an overgrowth of bone puts pressure on part of the nerve.

CERVICAL RADICULOPATHY

This condition is commonly called a pinched nerve and occurs when a nerve in your neck is compressed or irritated where it branches away from the spinal cord. This may cause pain that radiates into your shoulder, arm or both. It can also cause muscle weakness and numbness.

ISTHMIC SPONDYLOLISTHESIS

This condition occurs when one vertebral slips forward over the one below it. It happens as the result of a minor fracture in a piece of bone connecting the two joints on the back side of this segment of spine. This causes strain on your disc and joints. Common symptoms include back pain, stiffness, leg pain, numbness and weakness.

Some people who suffer from chronic back or neck pain think that surgery is inevitable. However, that is not always the case. Many Pain & Spine Centers will work with patients to find nonsurgical options that may resolve their pain without the need for surgery.

First, your doctor may recommend treatments such as hot and cold packs, specific exercises that can strengthen muscles and ease pain, braces or corsets, pain-relief injections, anti-inflammatory medications and nerve blocks.

Other treatments that have been proven to be effective include:

• PHYSICAL THERAPY It might seem counter-intuitive to get up and move when you are in excruciating pain.

But physical therapy and exercise under the direction of trained physical therapists can be one of the best prescriptions to reduce your pain. • CHIROPRACTIC Spinal manipulation and adjustments performed by a skilled chiropractor can often be the solution to back or neck pain. • ACUPUNCTURE Although skeptics may write off acupuncture, studies have found it can help relieve chronic pain for many patients. • MASSAGE Massages can play an important role in your overall treatment plan. They can reduce your discomfort and accelerate your path to pain-free mobility. For some patients, surgery is truly the best course of treatment. An important question to ask your provider is what noninvasive surgical approaches are available for your condition? The benefits with noninvasive approaches include: minimal pain, no hospital stay, shorter recovery time, fewer or no incisions or scars and lower risk of complications.

Robert A. Kayal, MD, FAAOS, FAAHKS, is the founder, president and CEO of Kayal Orthopaedic Center and its network of centers including ones for Pain & Spine, Physical Therapy, Chiropractic, Acupuncture and Massage. Dr. Kayal is a reviewed and approved NJ Top Doctor. He and his colleagues are featured on page 14 of this publication.