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| Illustration: (c)Anne Asher 2007 Licensed to About.com |
Most of the time, back pain is muscle or posture related, which means, it's likely that it is not serious enough to warrant the attention of a medical doctor. But what about those times when at-home therapies, holistic therapies or a visit to the chiropractor doesn't address the pain?
When you go for that initial appointment with either your primary care physician or a specialist, the first order of business is to get a diagnosis. "A successful treatment is based on a sound diagnosis," says Dr. Jack Stern, neurosurgeon and pain management specialist in White Plains, New York. "You need to know what's wrong before you can determine the best way to fix it."
When the doctor diagnoses you, she is looking to correlate the results of your exam and any diagnostic tests with the signs and symptoms you present. So, it's important to communicate well with your doctor.
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Critical point on diagnosis, frequently difficult in cases of neck and back pain. Often The source of pain can come from many different sources, and is not immediately apparent. Sometimes a holistic diagnosis is an excellent one, as pain is a symptom of underlying issues which are not always apparent from physical examination. It’s well worth reviewing your overall lifestyle for possible danger signs.
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Chiropractor Plano
Critical point on diagnosis, frequently difficult in cases of neck and back pain. Often The source of pain can come from many different sources, and is not immediately apparent. Sometimes a holistic diagnosis is an excellent one, as pain is a symptom of underlying issues which are not always apparent from physical examination. It’s well worth reviewing your overall lifestyle for possible danger signs.
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Chiropractor Plano
While it is important to get an accurate diagnosis, it should be noted that diagnostic testing (such as MRI) can be misleading. The false positive rates of findings on MRI are quite high… disc bulges, disc herniations, etc… are found commonly on MRIs of people without back or neck pain. Any diagnostic testing must be correlated with clinical findings. Chasing the test results can be very misleading.
To find an exact diagnosis/structure causing back pain in most cases just is not possible, nor necessary to treat the problem. Signs and symptoms, responses of the pain to certain movements and positions (I love the McKenzie method of assessment and treatment of low back pain), and avoiding where possible aggravating factors can all be combined to provide sufficient and successful treatment of low back pain.