Back Pain

GENERAL INFORMATION:

What is back pain? Back pain or a low back strain is your back's way of responding to injury or illness. Back pain is pain in the back that usually happens by hurting muscles or ligaments in your back. Everybody reacts to back pain in different ways. What you think is painful may not be painful to someone else. But, pain is whatever you say it is!

What causes back pain? Back pain may happen when you hurt your back by lifting something or straining hard. You may have hurt your back falling down. Other back problems like a ruptured (burst) disk or pinched nerve may be the cause of your back pain. An infection in the spine could be causing you to have back pain. Other causes of back pain are osteoporosis ("brittle bone" disease), tumors, or childbirth. Sometimes it is not known what has caused the problem.

Signs and Symptoms: Back pain may start suddenly or slowly. It may be felt at the time you hurt your back or it may start hurting hours later. You may have constant pain or pain that comes and goes. Your back may feel stiff. You may have trouble bending over or getting out of bed in the morning. You may have pain in your legs or buttocks (rear end). Backaches tend to come and go. Or, you may have long-term backaches.

What are the different types of pain? Back pain may be acute or chronic.

• Acute pain is short-lived and usually lasts less than 3 months. Caregivers help first work to remove the cause of the pain, such as fixing a broken arm. Acute pain can usually be controlled or stopped with pain medicine.
  
  
• Chronic pain lasts longer than 3 to 6 months. This kind of pain is often more complex. Caregivers may use medicines along with other treatments, like self-hypnosis and relaxation therapies to help your pain.

What is your back pain like? Caregivers want you to talk to them about your pain. This helps them learn what may be causing the pain and how best to treat it. Tell caregivers your answers to the following questions.

• Where does it hurt? Where does it not hurt? Does the pain move from one area to another?
  
  
• How would you rate the pain on a scale of 0 to 10? (0 is no pain, and 10 is the worst pain you ever had.)
  
  
• How does the pain feel? Try to choose words that tell caregivers what type of pain you have. Is the pain sharp, cramping, twisting, squeezing, or crushing? Or, is the pain stabbing, burning, dull, numb, or "pins-and-needles" feeling?
  
  
• When did the pain start? Did it begin quickly or slowly? Is the pain steady or does it come and go?
  
  
• How often does the pain bother you and how long does it last?
  
  
• Does the pain effect your daily life? Can you still work in spite of the pain?
  
  
• Does the pain wake you from sleep?
  
  
• Do certain things or activities cause the pain to start or get worse like coughing or touching the area?
  
  
• Does the pain come before, during, or after meals?
  
  
• Does anything lessen the pain like changing positions, resting, medicines, or changing what you eat?

Why is pain control important? Pain can effect your appetite (ability or desire to eat), how well you sleep, your energy and your ability to do things. Pain can also effect your mood (how you feel about things) and relationships with others. If caregivers can help you control your pain, you will suffer less and can even heal faster.

Care: The best way to lessen back pain is to treat the cause of the pain. At first, you will probably be seen in a clinic or caregiver's office. But at times, you might need to go into the hospital for tests and treatment. You may need to see your caregiver often. Ask your caregiver for information about back pain to help you understand about the different problems and treatments.

• Tests: You may need one or more of the following tests to look at your back. These tests can help caregivers find out if other problems are causing your back pain, such as broken bones or cancer. Usually these tests are not done until other treatments have been tried and have not helped your back pain. Ask your caregiver if you want more information about these tests.
  
  
  • Bone Scan.
    
    
  • CT Scan.
    
    
  • MRI.
    
    
  • Myelogram.
    
    
  • X-rays.
  
  
• Treatment Options: Caregivers will plan your treatment based on what is causing your back pain. So, your care may change if your back pain gets worse with time.
  
  
  • Medicines may be used to treat some symptoms like pain and inflammation (in-fluh-ma-shun) or swelling. Epidural steroid medicine is a shot given in your spine for pain relief and to lessen swelling. Other medicines are used to help your muscles relax. Some of the medicines used to treat back pain have side effects. Ask caregivers about these possible side effects.
    
    
  • Changing your normal physical activity for time.
    
    
  • Gentle stretching and exercise of your back.
    
    
  • Heat or cold.
    
    
  • Physical therapy.
    
    
  • Sleeping on a firm mattress or on the floor.
    
    
  • Wearing a back brace to help you remember to lift things correctly.
    
    
  • Short-term bed rest.
    
    
  • Surgery may be needed to remove a bad disc in your spine. This is done to decrease the pressure on the nerve. Sometimes, special medicines are used during surgery that help the hurt disc soften and shrink (get smaller).
    
    
  • Weight loss.

CARE AGREEMENT:

You have the right to help plan your care. To help with this plan, you must learn about your health condition and how it may be treated. You can then discuss treatment options with your caregivers. Work with them to decide what care may be used to treat you. You always have the right to refuse treatment.

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