Back pain treatment at OrthoCoast

Appropriately adapted activity is part of treatment for many back problems. The amount needs to suit your current capacity. If pain has meant you have been less active for a long time, building up gradually may be more useful than starting a demanding programme straight away. Our movement and exercise advice is intended to help you find that starting point. We discuss what you can change in everyday life and which therapeutic support may be suitable. A temporary pain-relieving measure may help you become active again. What remains important is how your capacity develops and whether you can put the plan into practice.

Manual medicine uses targeted examination and treatment with the hands. It may be appropriate for certain functional problems when the findings and your health make it suitable. First, we must assess whether there are any reasons why such treatment should not be used. The choice depends on which movement is restricted and how it affects your symptoms. A recent fracture and certain other conditions place particular limits on treatment. Manual treatment is therefore not chosen simply because something feels “blocked”. Where appropriate, it can be combined with active measures. We also offer the Evocell mechanotransduction treatment couch as a complementary physical therapy. For selected symptoms involving muscular tension, painful areas of muscle tightness or restricted movement in spinal segments, it may be used with the aim of relaxation and pain relief. Its use is coordinated with exercise and, where appropriate, other measures according to your findings. Releasing joint restrictions is an aim, but this effect cannot be assumed for every patient.

Medicines for pain relief may be useful when pain significantly disrupts sleep, movement or participation in another treatment. The medicines that may be suitable depend on factors including the type of pain, other medical conditions and medicines you already take. Together, we weigh up the expected benefit and the risks that need to be considered. This includes the planned duration of use and when the effects will be reviewed. Please do not change your existing medicines on the basis of general website text. Bring an up-to-date list, including over-the-counter products.

An infiltration involves injecting a medicine into a specifically selected area. Imaging can help assess the anatomy and the position of the needle. Which imaging method and medicine are suitable depends on the particular treatment. The aim may be to relieve an identified irritation and thereby make movement easier again. Before deciding, we need to discuss how well the suspected source of pain fits your findings, what alternatives are available and how benefit will be assessed. Technically precise placement alone does not guarantee lasting improvement.

Periradicular therapy, or PRT, targets the area around a nerve root. It may be considered for selected symptoms when nerve irritation is a plausible explanation for the pain. Radiating pain can be one indication of this, but it does not replace a medical diagnosis. Beforehand, existing images, the examination and the course of your symptoms are considered together. Risks such as a tendency to bleed, infections, allergies and possible medicine interactions must also be taken into account. Possible complications of an injection include bleeding, infection and damage to nearby structures; serious neurological complications can occur rarely. We explain the specific procedure in your individual discussion before you give consent. PRT cannot treat every cause of back symptoms. If weakness or paralysis is new or worsening, we must first establish whether other urgent care is needed.

A treatment decision also involves agreeing on what to monitor afterwards. Can you walk for longer again? Do you need fewer breaks? Has your sleep changed? Your feedback helps us weigh the effect of a measure against the demands it places on you. If the expected benefit does not materialise, treatment should not continue simply out of habit. The diagnosis, goal and approach so far should then be reconsidered. Complex or persistent problems may require additional specialist support. Whether a surgical assessment is needed is also discussed in light of the medical situation.