Back pain is very common and often occurs together with pain in the leg (sciatica). Most back pain attacks resolve after a few days or weeks. Modern medical advice is to keep moving and take simple painkillers.To read this page, either scroll down or as you read or click on the title that interests you to go straight to that section:
Back pain
Back pain is very common and often occurs together with pain in the leg (sciatica). Most back pain attacks resolve after a few days or weeks. Modern medical advice is to keep moving and take simple painkillers.
If pain persists, referral to a specialist such as an orthopaedic surgeon or a rheumatologist may be necessary. Investigations such as X rays, MRI and CT scans may reveal a cause for the pain such as a slipped disc. If symptoms are severe enough surgery may be required.
However, in many cases no obvious cause for the pain can be found. Almost all of the structures in the spine , discs, ligaments, joints and bones may cause pain. Pain clinic specialists are able to offer a range of injection treatments which may give relief of pain.
Often the injections contain slow release steroid and local anaesthetic. Steroids act by reducing inflammation.
Treatments for back pain can be found in the Treatments and Techniques section of this web site.
Neck pain
The neck has the same basic structure as the back. The cause of neck pain are
very similar to those above as are the treatments. Variations on the techniques in
the Treatments and Techniques section of this web site can be used to relieve neck pain.
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Complex regional pain syndromes
These strange conditions sometimes follow injury or surgery to arms and legs. A combination of chronic pain,
swelling, stiffness, colour changes, temperature changes and other signs point to this diagnosis which is very often missed by doctors unfamiliar with it.
A course of special injections of a drug called guanethidine under tourniquet to the affected limb can cure the condition.
As the limb can also be made temporarily numb with local anaesthetic effective physiotherapy can be given.
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Neuropathic pain and neuralgias
As mentioned already, many pains do not respond well to conventional painkillers. A common example is persistent pain after shingles. Advice can be given on the best available alternative drugs for these conditions.
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Cold and painful legs and feet
Cold, painful feet are usually due to poor circulation, for example, narrowed arteries.In many cases surgery may be able to unblock or bypass graft the problem area in the artery.
However, often the blood vessels are narrowed everywhere and surgery is not an option. A special injection technique called sympathectomy can then be used to try and improve the blood flow to the leg. It involves an injection alongside the spine under x-ray and sedation which blocks nerve fibres which constrict the blood vessels.
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Cancer pain
The mainstay of pain control in cancer is administration of strong painkillers such as morphine. This works well in the majority of patients. Sometimes other drugs may be helpful and the pain specialist can advise on this. In selected cases, special injection techniques can be performed that permanently destroy some of the nerve pathways involved in the pain. These techniques can sometimes remove the need to take strong painkillers entirely.
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Widespread aches and pains, fibromyalgia, M.E.
Many people suffer from unexplained aches and pains and very many different names and labels are attached to these. Certain drugs may be helpful, as may injections, acupuncture and transcutaneous electrical nerve stimulation.
