By Becky Wiese
You’ve overdone it. Tweaked. Twisted. Bent down to tie your shoe the wrong way. You’ve been in an accident. Your job causes a lot of strain on your back. A variety of scenarios can and do cause back pain. And back pain is nothing to sneeze at (even if a sneeze is what caused it in the first place). A sore back can make even the simplest activities difficult if only because most physical movement involves the back in some way: Sitting, standing, lying down—and the process of getting from one position to another—all involve the back.
A person with a sore back feels a direct economic impact as their ability to work may be affected, not to mention the costs of over-the-counter remedies, doctor visits, and other expenses involved in seeking relief. Back pain takes a toll on every aspect of life.
Dr. Ben Taimoorazy and the staff at Guardian Headache and Pain Management Institute work to alleviate their patients’ pain in the most effective and efficient manner possible. To do this, Dr. Taimoorazy first determines what is causing the back pain.
“By the time a patient has been referred to me, they’ve tried a variety of treatment options—often including physical therapy, muscle relaxants, anti-inflammatory medications—over the course of 6-8 weeks or so,” he says. He conducts an in-depth physical examination to narrow down what the focus of treatment should be, sometimes using CT scans or MRIs to find the source of the pain.
“If, for example, the pain is found to originate in a facet joint, we may first prescribe a short course of oral steroids to help decrease the inflammation,” he explains. In some cases, that may be all it takes to ease the pain because less inflammation decreases the irritation to the nerve. If the nerve is not irritated, it does not send pain messages to the brain.
Steroids injections administered under light sedation and real-time x-ray represent another option for eliminating pain in various joints. In some situations, an anesthetic is also included in the treatment. The anesthetic chemically blocks the transmission of pain information to the brain. These treatments are beneficial in that they stop the pain for a period of time and are minimally invasive procedures.
If the pain persists, another type of intervention exists in which a small needle is inserted into the nerve supplying the joint. Again, the patient is lightly sedated for this procedure and the doctor uses real-time x-ray to see exactly where to administer the treatment. He first numbs the nerve for diagnostic purposes: If numbing relieves the pain, then he knows he’s found the source and can proceed. The next step is to cauterize the nerve, which effectively stops it from transmitting pain signals to the brain. Thus, the patient’s pain is eliminated.
“This procedure is also minimally invasive, so although the pain may come back in 9-12 months (once the nerve regenerates enough to again transmit pain signals), many patients find relief in having the procedure done every year or so,” says Dr. Taimoorazy. This is the second of a three-part series.
For more information, you may contact Dr. Benjamin Taimoorazy at Guardian Headache & Pain Management Institute, 309-808-1700, www.GuardianPainInstitute.com. The practice is located at 2203 Eastland Drive, Suite #7, in Bloomington. Dr. Taimoorazy strives to increase awareness and understanding of different types of headaches and other chronic painful conditions and the available diagnostic and therapeutic options for each individual disorder.