Lower Back Pain Relief Tips

Lower Back Pain Relief Tips - Do You Need to Get Tested?

Factors that go into deciding whether you need a detailed lower back pain test, like an MRI scan for example, might include your age, how long you've been in pain, the number of previous episodes of back pain you've had, the severity of the pain, and its effect on your day-to-day functioning. It can even be influenced by the practitioner's specialty and size of practice. For instance, compared to primary care physicians, chiropractors and orthopedic surgeons are generally much more likely to take X-rays no matter how the clinical exam went. Getting the right tests, if any are actually required at all, will make difference with regards to which back pain treatment will be more effective.

Patient anxiety also plays a large role. With the levels of severity that back pain can reach, many back pain sufferers request diagnostic tests for reassurance that they are not seriously hurt. That can backfire when irrelevant test results cause undue worry.

Physicians may use tests to reassure the patient, but the problem with that is that many individuals will have variations in their spinal anatomy. Bone spurs, for instance, will be found equally in people with and without back pain.

"It's very frightening for people," says neurosurgeon Dr. Richard Toselli, who remembers his own bout with back pain as "the worst pain I've ever felt." "Even for me, and others in the profession, there is the question, 'Am I going to get better or did I just do something really bad?'

"Patients many times come to you with that issue: 'I hurt. I want a reason.' And if you don't have a good education component, they may be upset when they leave if you don't do a study. One of the problems is they may not need a study."