People who suffer from back pain can do something for their back and thereby significantly improve their quality of life. The realization that 80 percent of all back pain is harmless and usually disappears on its own after a few days has not yet caught on. With or without a doctor. Short-term discomfort can also often be quickly alleviated by taking the initiative.
Home remedies for back pain
“Heat applications, for example, promote blood circulation and relax painfully cramped muscles,” says pharmacist Dr. Peter Stein from Cologne. Also herbal agents such as capsaicin or extracts of willow bark reduce the discomfort, and are recommended according to the pharmacist. Massages and baths offer a pleasant and pleasant to the physical and internal relaxation. They promote blood circulation to the muscles and thus loosen existing tensions.
Surgery or physiotherapy for back pain.
If the back pain does not improve after a few days, if it even gets worse or if fever is added, the visit to the doctor should not be delayed. “If you wait too long and ignore the warning signs, you risk damage to your health,” Dr. Jan-Peter Jansen of the Schmerzzentrum Berlin points out. Such warning signs are, for example, signs of paralysis in the bladder, rectum or legs. Then, according to many orthopedists, surgery must be performed. “Thanks to the development of minimally invasive techniques, surgery is no longer a threatening procedure today. But surgery remains surgery and should therefore be well considered,” says Dr. Matthias Psczolla. Despite the “keyhole technique”, scars occur in the surgical area. These can stick to the surrounding tissue and exert pressure or traction on the nerves. This can ultimately lead to pain again. For this reason, the possibilities of conservative therapy should always be exhausted first, the orthopedist urges. The focus here is on physiotherapy. Physiotherapy attempts to improve mobility, strengthen the trunk muscles and stabilize the spine. Which techniques are used depends on the symptoms and the exact diagnosis. Once the pain has passed, for most people the worry about the back is out of mind again until the next time. However, with the help of targeted, regularly applied exercises, you could do a lot and at the very least significantly extend the period until the next occurrence of back pain.
Pain therapy for back pain
The prerequisite for active exercise therapy or more everyday activities is effective pain management. “People who have back pain don’t like to move,” notes Dr. Dietmar Krause of DGK. Many people with acute pain are afraid of any movement and try to avoid pain by becoming physically numb. However, a vicious circle begins with this behavior:
- The fear of movement can lead to malpositions.
- The musculature is weakened and the functionality of the musculoskeletal system decreases. Further pain is the result.
- The burden on those affected increases.
It is therefore important to relieve the discomfort in time through pain therapy. Who is pain-free, need not be afraid of exercise. With a targeted exercise program, you can strengthen the back muscles and stabilize the spine.
Medication for back pain
Treatment should reduce the discomfort to an acceptable level. Therefore, the use of medication must be based on the intensity of the pain, Krause said. The recommendations of the World Health Organization (WHO) provide a good basis for this. According to these, mild complaints should be treated with non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs such as the active ingredients diclofenac or ibuprofen. Severe back pain, from which as many as 500,000 patients in Germany suffer, requires opioid painkillers. It is important to take the opioids regularly according to a fixed schedule. “Consistent use according to the clock ensures consistently high levels of the active ingredient and prevents pain from recurring,” Krause explains. Long-acting preparations that release their active ingredient in a controlled manner are therefore the first choice for continuous pain. At three days, opioid pain patches, for example with the active ingredient fentanyl, have the longest duration of action. Because the opioid enters the blood through the skin, constipation, the most common side effect, occurs less frequently.
Relaxation against back pain
Learning relaxation techniques enables sufferers to recognize internal tension at an early stage and relieve it with the help of targeted exercises. With the help of stress management training, sufferers can learn to live with their stress in such a way that they can keep the physical and mental consequences to a minimum.
Other treatment measures
If the conservative measures described above fail, injection treatments and special catheter methods can help further. Only when all other treatment options fail and only in exceptional cases does surgery remain. In modern spinal surgery, even major interventions such as fusion surgery can be performed safely and gently using microsurgical and low-stress techniques. However, this only makes sense after a clear diagnosis has been made and all conservative treatment options have been exhausted.
