RESEARCH REPORT ASKS IF AMERICANS LOSING BATTLE AGAINST BACK PAIN DESPITE SPENDING 86 BILLION ON BACK PAIN SCIATICA SPINE PAIN TREATMENTS

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I had written previously about what a big problem back pain is in the U.S. Over 70% of adults have back pain at some time in their lives. Back pain is the eighth leading reason for a visit to a doctor.Writing that Americans spend $26 billion dollars a year on back pain treatment. Looks like my figures about how much Americans spend on back pain and sciatica need updating. A research report about back pain and spine treatments says the U.S "spending on spine treatments totaled nearly $86 billion in 2005, a rise of 65 percent from 1997, after adjusting for inflation". Even so, the proportion of people with impaired function due to spine problems actually increased during the period, even after controlling for an aging population.

Read how back pain and sciatica is diagnosed and treated and why you should not ignore back pain




"The report in the Journal of the American Medical Association is the latest to suggest the nation is losing its battle against back pain, and that many popular treatments may be ineffective or overused. Researchers have produced conflicting data about the effectiveness of spinal fusion surgery for back pain, although one major study called Sport, for Spine Patient Outcomes Research Trial, showed that spinal surgery patients did better than patients receiving more conservative care, which included medications or physical therapy.
















"The researchers estimated that in 1997, about 21 percent of the adult population suffered from back or neck problems that limited their function. By 2005, that number grew to about 26 percent, after adjusting the numbers for age and sex. It’s not clear why more people appear to be suffering from back and neck pain. It could be that rising obesity rates are taking an added toll on the spine, researchers suggested. Or it could be that excessive treatment of back problems is leading to more problems".

Back Pain Spending Surge Shows No Benefit

MUSCLE STRAIN SCIATICA A HERNIATED DISC WHAT ARE CAUSES OF BACK PAIN: IS BACK PAIN DANGEROUS

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More than 70% of adults have back pain at some time in their lives. Back pain is the eighth leading reason for a visit to a doctor. Americans spend $26 billion dollars a year on back pain treatment. You bend over to lift a heavy piece of furniture and as you lift it you feel a sharp pain in your back. You feel pain in your back and down your leg and people tell you it's sciatica. You have been working out after a long hiatus and the next morning your back hurts. You have been doing some very heavy lifting and now you are getting back pain with numbness that runs down the back of your leg into the foot.

Presentations of Back Pain

These are all presentations of back pain. Back pain has a variety of causes from the benign but uncomfortable to the dangerous. When you come to see the doctor he or she will ask a lot of questions about the history surrounding your complaints as well as doing an exam and this will enable the doctor to form a differential diagnosis, a list of possible explanations that might explain the back pain. The doctor may ask questions like:

When did the back pain start?

What were you doing?

Any pain in the legs?

Any numbness?

What makes it better or worse?

Read about study that asks if Americans are winning war against back pain



It could actually be dangerous to not see a doctor for back pain. For example, in some cases back pain may have nothing to do with a "pulled muscle" or a "slipped disc" and could actually be caused by a tumor or other serious condition. Even though the natural history of back pain is favorable, it is important not to miss red flags for potentially very dangerous problems.One of the goals of the clinical examination is "to identify patients who require immediate surgical evaluation and those whose symptoms suggest a more serious underlying condition such as malignancy or infection".For example, there is an uncommon problem called Cauda Equina Syndrome. Cauda Equina Syndrome occurs when the nerve roots are compressed and paralyzed, cutting off sensation and movement. Nerve roots that control the function of the bladder and bowel are especially vulnerable to damage. Patients with signs of Cauda Equina Syndrome, such as bowel or bladder dysfunction, both sided sciatica or leg weakness, or numbness in a saddle distribution, require urgent surgical referral.




Among the tests that might be ordered are

an xray

ct scan

mri.

They all have their strengths and shortcomings. For example, an xray is not very good at finding a herniated disc. In a herniated disc, the disc that separates two bones of the spine, the vertebra, is herniated so that the disc can push out and put pressure on the nerves. You've probably heard of sciatica. In sciatica there is pressure on the nerves that come out at the lower vertebra L4, L5 level and run into the legs. That's why a disc in the back can cause pain or numbness into the legs.

Treatments for Back Pain

Among the treatments doctors use for back pain are

Physical therapy

Anti inflammatory medicines

Muscle relaxer medicines

Pain medicine

Osteopathic manipulation

Exercise

Surgery

Acupuncture

Rest

Evaluation and Treatment of Acute Low Back Pain



The statistics above were quoted from Healing a Bad Back Is Often an Effort in Painful Futility, an article that appeared in the New York Times. Further, they quote Dr. Richard Deyo of the University of Washington as saying, "a variety of studies have suggested that in 85 percent of cases it is impossible to say why a person's back hurts". That really seems like a very high number. What's clear is that alot of people do get relief from seeing a doctor and getting treated.