Most of us are leading a sedentary lifestyle and back pain has become much more common than it was before. There are various triggers for back pain and this can range from weak back muscles that should provide support, to sitting uncomfortably, to lifting heavy things, etc.
When you experience back pain, you should do something about it immediately. The sooner you visit your doctor, the better it will be for you. A doctor that specializes in back pain is an orthopedic doctor. They have specialized knowledge and training to deal with back pain injuries.
How do they do it? Here’s what you should know about orthopedics and what orthopedic doctors do.
Assessing damage
If you find yourself with an orthopedic doctor, it means that you’ve already visited your primary care physician and maybe even gone through physical therapy or visited a chiropractor. These are the first lines of treatments.
If such treatments fail to provide the desired result you are sent to an orthopedic doctor – a specialist for your back. First of all, they might run some scans such as X-Ray, CTs MRIs, bone scans and do some blood tests if necessary.
Their first aim is to figure out what they are dealing with. And they will do so through these procedures.
After that, there are two ways to go:
- Non-Surgical Treatments
- Surgery
Non-Surgical Treatments
There might not be a reason to go to the surgery right away because there are some viable treatments that can solve the issue. For example, Nerve block therapies can block nerve pain with anesthetics or steroids and this is a strategy that is often used in orthopedics. There are some other approaches and injections which are also used to block nerve pain.
According to orthopaede.com, each of these treatments is individually assigned, depending on your condition and what’s best for you. They can also perform orthopedic surgeries about which you can read below.
Surgery
At the end of the day, surgery might be the solution that you need. Going to surgery of any kind is never an easy thing to accept, but this can help you alleviate pain completely and simply fix the issue that you have in your back.
Once you have a chat with your orthopedic doctor, they will tell you exactly what the procedure will be. Back surgeries are practiced around the world and they are pretty safe, so you have nothing to worry about. Hopefully, you will wake up without any pain that has bothered you for years.
Conclusion
So, how do orthopedics treat back pain? Doctors first check what causes this pain and run some tests. After that, they will decide whether a surgery should take place or one of the treatments will be enough to fix your back issues.
Either way, you should always visit your primary care doctor before they send you to a specialist. And if you have lower back issues, don’t wait it out, hoping that it will pass. Act as quickly as possible to prevent causing even more damage to your back.
