Back Injuries

There are an infinite number of ways that one can injure their back and spine and an infinite number of symptoms and conditions that can come along with those injuries. This includes light to extreme pain (both temporary and chronic) along with tingling, numbness, tiredness and muscle weakness. Most of these symptoms occur when one somehow incurs damage to their spinal column. Your spine consists of 33 bones as well as an abundance of important nerves and tissues that extend from your skull all the way down to your pelvis. These bones and tissues protect the spinal cord that is encased within.

The nerves that are contained in the spinal cord control many processes throughout your body and are also responsible for sending the signals that allow you to feel pain in the injured areas of the body. Back pain, no matter how minor, can turn into a serious medical issue if left untreated, just like any other medical condition. It is important to educate yourself about what causes back injury and pain and what courses of treatment are available to you if you are unable to prevent it.

The causes of back pain are enumerable and can be a combination of things. The most frequent causes of pain however are things like automobile accidents, muscle strains and sports injuries. It is important that after one of these events occur that you see a doctor as soon as possible to diagnose the problem and begin treatment before you do any activity that could irritate the condition or cause possible further injury. There are several tests that you may have to undergo in order for your acting physician or chiropractor to accurately diagnose your specific type of pain.

Your doctor may choose to order an X-ray which will give them a detailed image of your bones in the area in question so that they may see any breaks, fractures, instabilities or even tumors that may be causing your pain issues. A CT scan on the other hand will allow the doctor to diagnose more specific and localized conditions such as the presence of a herniated disk or even something as complex as spinal stenosis.

If your doctor feels that your condition may be severe enough to require surgery they may even request that you have an MRI done. An MRI will give the doctor and the surgeon the information he will need to know about any possible nerve damage in your spinal column before the surgery takes place.

There are several courses of treatment that your doctor may suggest for back pain. The least invasive of these being regular chiropractic work. For moderate to severe pain that is not accompanied with a hazardous injury, having spinal adjustments on a regular basis can reverse many types of back injuries and help to alleviate, and maybe even eradicate chronic pain. Your doctor may also prescribe a different set of treatments including electronic muscle stimulation, heat/ice therapy, physical therapy or even surgery for the most severe cases. It is important to consult a physician after any major injury to discuss the best course of treatment to prevent further damage or irritation for your condition, because the early treatment of a back injury could in fact be the prevention of severe chronic pain.