Acute Lumbar Back Pain
Acute lumbar back pain is a debilitating condition for the patient and an often puzzling enigma for their physician.
Back pain
is almost always blamed on either an
injury
or some
degenerative
process in the spine or one of the muscular structures which surround it. While these scenarios can cause severe pain and
muscular spasms,
they are not the only causes of
acute back pain
symptoms. Statistically, many acute pain syndromes begin illogically, without any apparent causative incident, or may be attributed to a minor injury which somehow produces unbelievably terrifying symptoms. All patients must be advised that acute back and neck ache may come from a number of different sources, including preexisting structural issues in the spine, which have not yet been discovered, as well as the possibility for mindbody symptoms which may be related to stress or sensitive psychoemotional circumstances.
Acute Lumbar Back Pain Diagnosis
Pain due to an injury should heal either on its own or with appropriate medical
treatment.
It is important that the patient have faith in the success of their therapy, since lasting pain often commences because of poor early treatment results. In this case, the injury actually heals, but the incident acts as a
trigger
for a
psychological pain syndrome
to begin. Remember to ask questions about your treatments and understand exactly how they work and what they are intended to do. This will help you to believe in them and improve your chances for symptom resolution. Pain that is diagnosed as a result of a degenerative process is often perplexing to the patient and especially to the doctor. Degenerative processes are completely normal parts of aging and most commonly do not produce any pain or related
symptoms.
It is always a medical riddle why pain starts in some patients and not in others, even though the spinal characteristics are IDENTICAL. It is also not clear why pain begins suddenly, when the degenerative condition might have existed for decades already. The reason why this confounds many care practitioners is the
back pain industry’s
lack of understanding concerning the mind's ability to cause physical symptoms. However, this is fast changing, as more and more doctors are learning about the mindbody processes every day and integrating psychological tactics into conventional treatment modalities.
Acute Lumbar Back Pain Treatment
Conservative treatments for severe short-term
lower back pain
usually include
pain management drugs,
heat and/or ice,
bed rest and
physical therapy.
If the pain is extreme,
back surgery
might be suggested as a treatment, but should not be rushed. Surgical correction of back pain offers poor results for complete symptomatic resolution and is often quite unnecessary. Many acute conditions resolve without any treatment, even if the pain is horrible at the moment. There are other medical options for the treatment of certain types of acute pain, such as
spinal decompression,
as well as a wide variety of
complementary therapies.
Clinical studies suggest that it might be wise to do as little as possible to treat your acute pain and simply trust in your body’s own natural healing ability. Research proves that patients who do not seek treatment for acute low back pain resolve much faster, and have less chance for developing
chronic pain,
than patients who enter a defined treatment regimen. This is a very telling factual stat which truly provides insight into the general ineffectiveness of most medical approaches to back care.
Recommendation on Acute Lumbar Back Pain
Acute pain can be a trial by fire for any patient to endure. Learning the facts about back pain can play a valuable role in the
recovery
process. Differentiating physical symptoms from
psychosomatic pain
is one of the first and most important steps in this process. Do not count on your doctor to be able to diagnose any form of psychological causation. Some medical practitioners stand firmly behind the idea of a physical anatomical cause for virtually all varieties of back pain. I know, it is so incredibly unenlightened, but change comes slowly in many medical sectors, especially with doctors who have been embracing the purely Cartesian model of pain for decades already. Remember, doctors are products of their educations. If the educational process is not complete, then the doctor's abilities will be equally limited. Acute symptoms might be a one time occurrence. Do not
fear
the future or anticipate subsequent episodes of pain. Anxiety created by this worry is fuel for any psychosomatic pain condition and will be detrimental to even the most physically-induced symptoms, as well. Have confidence that you can and will overcome your pain and you will set the stage for a true and complete recovery.
Acute Lumbar Back Pain to Back Pain
12/12/07 Revised 4/8/12
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