Pinched Nerves and Back Pain
Your spinal cord is a hugely important part of your body. It acts as the telecommunications center to your brain, delivering pain signals and other information to various parts of your body. When your spine has problems, it can actually affect your overall well-being, not to mention your ability to enjoy your life as you naturally do. One of the most painful problems when it comes to your back and spine is a pinched nerve. This can also be referred to as a “trapped nerve” or “compressed nerve.” While there are a variety of reasons that this diagnosis can occur, it is still a hugely painful situation to endure.
Some of the most common reasons that a pinched nerve can occur can be from a herniated disc, degenerative disc disorder or an internal disc disruption. It can be caused from either an injury or just natural wear and tear on your spinal column that comes with age. As diagnosing the root cause of back pain can oftentimes be difficult, it is not hard to feel the results of it. Many sufferers of pinched nerves report feelings of inflammation or pressure in the affected areas. Worse yet, as the symptoms progress, sufferers can even feel radiating pain from the affected area throughout other portions of their body.
If you are experiencing the symptoms of a pinched nerve, it’s important that you do not ignore it. While taking over-the-counter painkillers and trying to carry on might work for some types of pain, pinched nerves can actually be indicative of a more serious problem. Start with a visit to a specialist clinic such as Integrated Spine & Sports, which can offer a variety of paths and procedures to help get you started on your road to recovery.
Source: https://www.webmd.com/pain-management/guide/compressed-nerves
Our approach to treating back pain
By visiting a back pain specialist clinic such as Integrated Spine & Sports, the professionals there can help individually tailor a program to help both manage your symptoms and work on your recovery.
We offer non-surgical options for the treatment of injuries and medical conditions affecting the back, with an integrative approach that may include:
Back Pain Specialists
Our back pain specialists in Manhattan create custom treatments designed to meet the needs of people suffering from acute pain due to injury, as well as those experiencing chronic conditions affecting the muscles, discs, soft tissue and nerves within the back, cervical spine, and neck.
Our integrative team, consisting of a board-certified physiatrist, chiropractors, and physical therapists, offers comprehensive treatment for acute and chronic back pain treatment in NYC.
Back Pain FAQs
Some of the common symptoms of COVID-19 are “aches and pains”. Some patients do experience back pain, especially in the lower back. In some cases, the pain is subtle but constant. In others, it is an intense, pulsating pain, which can radiate down to the legs. If the back pain persists, consult your doctor.
Generally, the best position to sleep is on your back. Sleeping on one’s back ensures that the spine is in a neutral position, which can help with back pain. You can also put a pillow under your knees, legs, and/or lower back to support the natural curve of the spine. This can minimize lumbar pressure and relieve back pain.
If doing gentle back stretches doesn’t do the trick, then try strengthening your core so your spine isn’t struggling to stay upright. Heat therapy and cold therapy can also work well for pain relief. If your back pain is a result of poor posture or a bad workstation setup, make the necessary changes to avoid back pain in the future.
Your back pain is likely serious if it occurs with any of the following symptoms: numbness in lower body, loss of bladder/bowel control, fever, unexplained weight loss, swelling. In such cases, please consult a physiatrist immediately.
Short-term (or acute) back pain lasts a few days to a few weeks. This is often the case with back pain, and patients usually recover without medical treatment. Sometimes, it lasts for 12 weeks or longer. This is called chronic back pain, and it can take a while to go away. Medical treatment often helps relieve chronic backpain, so we recommend consulting a physiatrist.
Acupuncture provides short-term relief for chronic back pain. Back pain is actually the number 1 reported reason people seek acupuncture. By stimulating the various acupuncture points associated with back pain, parts of the nervous system are also stimulated, which can help provide pain relief.
