Effective Methods in the Treatment of Low Back Pain

Acıbadem University Atakent Hospital Algology (Pain Treatment) Specialist Prof. Dr. Alp Yentür explained effective methods in the treatment of low back pain, gave warnings and suggestions.

"Suddenly my back was stiff, I was stuck", "I can't get out of bed in the morning, my back breaks when I turn right and left", "There is a pain that goes down to my feet, it seems like it's gouging", "When I stand for a while, my hip gets a pain, my leg goes numb" In other words, the number of 'low back pain sufferers' is increasing day by day.

Acıbadem University Atakent Hospital Algology (Pain Treatment) Specialist Prof. Dr. Alp Yentür said, “The complaints of low back pain that we encounter every day, which are very common in our society, are all caused by different reasons. Therefore, their treatments are also different. While the load on the spine increases the pain, especially if the person is overweight, in this case, it becomes much more inevitable to suffer from low back pain. Low back pain patients constitute a very important part of the patients who apply to pain treatment (Algology) clinics.” said.

Low back pain, which is among the most common complaints today, has become widespread especially during the pandemic process. Low back pain, which is not only common in adults, but also in children; Stating that many factors such as a sedentary lifestyle, not doing regular exercise, long-term posture disorders in front of the computer and excess weight play a role, Acıbadem University Atakent Hospital Algology (Pain Treatment) Specialist Prof. Dr. Alp Yentür continues:

“As the cause of low back pain; calcification in the lumbar spine, narrow canal, deformation and degeneration of the discs between the vertebrae, calcification of the hip joint, inflammation, lumbar slippage, hardening of the muscles around the spine, compression of the sciatic nerve by the hip muscle that went into spasm, a possible tumor and herniated disc and pain relief after back surgery Many reasons can be counted, such as sometimes even more.” For this reason, it is necessary to determine the cause of the pain correctly and to start the appropriate treatment as soon as possible.

95% of lumbar hernias do not require surgery

prof. Dr. Alp Yentür stated that in order to diagnose a hernia in a person, the patient's complaints and examination findings must be compatible with this, as well as the MRI image, and said that more than 95 percent of real lumbar hernias are non-surgical, so surgery should not be the first choice in hernia.

Back pain? A hernia?

Pointing out that the most common low back pain complaints are muscle spasm-related pain, Yentürk said that the cause of most low back pain differs according to age.

“For example, herniated disc is seen at younger ages, while osteoarthritis and stenosis pains occur in older ages. In other words, the possibility of an elderly person's low back pain due to hernia is very low. Another important feature is that in almost all of the disorders that cause low back pain, the complaint of pain is felt in the waist and hip region, while herniated disc pain causes pain that spreads to the leg on the side with hernia rather than the waist. Even in patients with advanced hernia, numbness up to the toes, pins and needles, tingling and loss of strength in the muscles can be seen in addition to the pain.

Treatment methods are grouped under 5 main headings.

Since there are many factors that cause low back pain, treatment options also vary according to the cause of the pain complaint. Yentür stated that classically low back pain treatment options are grouped under 5 main headings, and these are; rest, drug therapy, physical therapy, interventional pain therapy and surgery. However; Emphasizing that excess weight, a sedentary lifestyle and weak abdominal / waist muscles are the most important factors that invite these complaints, Prof. Dr. Alp Yentür continued his words as follows:

“In our patient spectrum, there is a group of patients who did not benefit from the first three applications. In other words, these are patients who have not benefited from rest, medication and physical therapy, but who do not need or do not want to have surgery. The treatment methods of algology are generally called interventional methods, most of them are highly effective treatments that are applied to the exact point where the problem is, under the guidance of various needles, scopy or ultrasound. Apart from this, methods such as spinal cord batteries, catheters, and radio wave (RF-radio frequency) applications using special devices can be counted among the options.”

Yentür explained the situations that required surgery as follows:

“If a herniated disc patient with pain from his leg to his feet cannot walk on the tips of his toes or on his heel, if he cannot hold urine or stool, or if he has erection problems in men, he should have an operation immediately under these conditions. Apart from this, if the pain cannot be relieved despite all the treatments, surgery can be performed depending on the patient's request under these conditions. The reason why I say optional here is that the picture does not show an urgency, and a permanent neurological damage is not expected in a short time if surgery is not performed. Again, stenosis and lumbar shift complaints are other conditions where relief is not expected without surgery in the future.”