What is back pain?
Back pain refers to discomfort in your back or spine. It can be a sharp or shooting pain, dull ache, or soreness that comes and goes. While acute (short-term) back pain is common with an injury or strain, many adults suffer chronic (ongoing) back pain.
Chronic pain is pain that lasts six months or longer. Whether you sit at a desk or work a physical job that keeps you on your feet all day, chronic back pain can affect your day-to-day life.
What causes back pain?
Anything from lifting heavy objects to poor posture can cause acute or chronic back pain. Conditions that cause back pain in people of all ages include:
Herniated discs
The flexible discs that cushion the vertebrae in your spine are made up of a tough casing with a soft, gel-like center. Small cracks or regular wear-and-tear can create a break in the case, causing the soft center to push through, irritating nearby nerves. This leads to constant back pain that’s difficult to treat on your own.
Spinal stenosis
Spinal stenosis narrows the spinal column, putting pressure on the spine and nearby nerves.
Arthritis
Arthritis, or joint inflammation, leads to stiff joints. Spinal arthritis causes that stiffness in the back and neck. While arthritis can develop anywhere in the spine, it’s most common near the neck (cervical spine) and lower back (lumbar spine).
Sciatica
The sciatic nerve, the body’s largest nerve, runs from the lower back down the back of each thigh. Sciatica typically affects one side of your body at a time. It shows up when the sciatic nerve is compressed or pinched.
How is back pain treated?
At Radiant Pain Relief, the pain management experts offer an innovative cutaneous (skin surface) treatment called Scrambler Therapy to relieve back pain. Guided by trained professionals, Scrambler Therapy gives you lasting relief from back pain without using injections, medications, or surgery.
The technician places the MC5-A Calmare® Scrambler Therapy device onto your area of pain. The device delivers electrical energy into your nerves through expertly placed electrodes.
These electrodes replace pain information in your nerves with non-pain information. With every electrical pulse, Scrambler Therapy essentially restructures the pain messages sent to your brain, turning them into non-pain messages.
While this treatment sounds similar to transcutaneous electrical nerve stimulation (TENS), there are key differences. TENS blocks pain signals, while Scrambler Therapy replaces pain information with non-pain information. Scrambler Therapy also uses a weaker electrical current to effectively target your pain.
Scrambler Therapy treatments last about 45 minutes. Radiant Pain Relief recommends one session every day for two weeks, with a two-day break in the middle.
To learn more, call Radiant Pain Relief Centres today or schedule an appointment online.