About 80% of Americans experience lower back pain during their lifetimes. It’s no secret that back pain is common — but how it affects your mobility and your lifestyle is personal.
Back pain varies in severity, duration, and cause. The good news is that there are plenty of treatments available to lessen your pain, and our doctors at Manhattan Orthopedics are here to help. We can see you at one of our offices in Astoria, Brooklyn, or Manhattan, New York.
Our team specializes in treating back pain. We understand how back pain can impact your daily activities, and we work with you, offering a range of customizable treatments to relieve your pain and help you enjoy a more active life.
We treat back pain by starting with a comprehensive consultation and exam. We may perform diagnostic tests, such as an MRI or CT scan, to evaluate your condition. Our doctors often recommend a combination of treatments for best results.
Mild or moderate injuries and acute episodes of back pain may improve with conservative treatment. We often prescribe rest and anti-inflammatory medication in these cases.
Depending on the severity of your condition, over-the-counter or prescription-strength medication may be appropriate. Resting your back means avoiding strenuous activities, like lifting heavy objects and twisting.
Herniated discs and other moderate causes of back pain may improve with four to six weeks of conservative care. If you’re still bothered by back pain after several weeks, it could be time to consider more treatment options.
Physical therapy can be a successful treatment option for back pain because it often addresses the cause of your pain. While medication simply masks pain signals, physical therapy builds strength and flexibility in your back to reduce pain from the inside out.
We recommend physical therapy for back pain because it’s a customizable solution for every patient. Your program consists of purposeful exercises that target the injured, weakened area. Physical therapy balances your body, helps you recover from an injury, and even reduces your risk of suffering another similar injury in the future.
Epidural steroid injections can be an option for long-lasting pain relief, particularly when more conservative methods haven’t made a difference in your pain. Steroid injections are minimally invasive, and they target nerve pain caused by irritation and inflammation.
The effects of steroid injections vary from person to person, but one injection could provide several months of pain relief. Nerve blocks are another treatment option that’s similar to steroid injections, but they target specific nerves in the spine rather than relieving more widespread pain.
Injections combined with physical therapy can address many causes of more severe back pain, including spinal stenosis. They reduce inflammation that irritates your spinal cord so you feel less pain.
When conservative treatments aren’t enough to manage your back pain, we might recommend spine surgery. Our spinal surgery team is trained in the latest minimally invasive techniques, including discectomy, laminectomy, and spinal fusion.
Minimally invasive spine surgery utilizes a robot-assisted system to minimize disruption within your body. Smaller incisions, enhanced precision, and less tissue disruption during minimally invasive spine surgery means faster recovery with less pain than traditional methods.
At Manhattan Orthopedics, we understand back pain. Come in for a consultation to find the treatment that’s right for you. Call the office nearest you today or request your first appointment online.
