Back Pain
BACK PAIN
Back pain is one of the most common causes of pain & disability, affecting people of all ages. Pain may be felt in the lower, middle or upper back & can sometimes radiate into the buttocks, hips or legs. When a spinal nerve is irritated or compressed, patients may also experience symptoms such as tingling, numbness or weakness in the leg or foot.
Diagnosis,
Accurate diagnosis is important because back pain is a symptom rather than a single disease.
- a. Location & nature of pain
- b. Duration & progression of symptoms
- c. Activities or movements that aggravate the pain
- d. Radiation of pain into the leg
- e. Numbness, tingling or weakness
- f. Reflexes, sensation & muscle strength
- a. X-ray
- b. MRI of the spine
- c. CT scan of the spine
Blood tests when infection, inflammatory condition or other systemic disease is suspected.
Treatment,
1. Medications:
Anti-inflammatory, analgesic & antispasmodic medicines having good role in acute stage. They reduce inflammation, pain & spasm in the back, help you to get to the daily routine.
2. Exercise & Physiotherapy:
In early stage of back pain some back exercises are very helpful to maintain a muscle strength & tone. Targeted back & core strengthening exercises protect your back by building deep abdominal & lower back muscles that absorb daily loads & reduce pressure on the vertebrae.
3. Spinal Blocks / Injections:
If exercises & medications aren’t effective, your doctor might suggest spinal blocks or injections. These are minimally invasive procedures, to block pain pathways & reduce inflammation. Pain relief typically beginning within a week.
At AREVA, we specialise in advanced interventional pain management for back & spine conditions, using precise, image-guided (C-ARM or IITV) procedures to target the source of pain, providing relief in back pain without the need for major surgery.
Many treatments are performed as day-care procedures, enabling patients to return home the same day & resume normal activities with minimal downtime.
Our goal: Precise treatment, faster recovery & lasting improvement in quality of life.
a. Facet Joint Block:
When pain originates from the facet joints (located between each vertebra), a specific type of injection called a facet joint injection, to diagnose & treat pain by reducing inflammation. The pain, commonly associated with facet arthritis & mechanical back pain.
b. Transforaminal Block / Selective Nerve Root Block:
A targeted image-guided injection delivered near an irritated spinal nerve root to reduce inflammation & pain, particularly in conditions such as sciatica, slipped or herniated disc & radicular pain. Medications are injected into the neural foramen, the opening through which the spinal nerve exits the spine, & placed close to the affected nerve root. The medication spreads around the nerve root within the epidural/perineural space, helping to reduce inflammation & relieve pain.
c. Interlaminar Epidural Injection
Medication is injected into the epidural space through an interlaminar approach to help reduce inflammation around spinal nerves. It may be considered for radicular pain, sciatica & selected spinal pain conditions.
d. Medial Branch Block
A precise, image-guided injection around the small medial branch nerves that carry pain signals from the facet joints. It can help determine whether the facet joints are a significant source of back or neck pain & may also be used as part of the treatment pathway toward RF neurolysis.
e. Caudal Epidural Injection
Medication is delivered into the epidural space through the sacral opening at the base of the spine. It may be used for lower back pain, sciatica & certain forms of nerve-root irritation
f. Sacroiliac (SI) Joint Injection:
An image-guided injection into the SI Joint to diagnose & treat pain arising from the SI joint, which can cause pain in the lower back, buttock & sometimes the leg.
4. Radiofrequency Ablation (RF Neurolysis):
A minimally invasive procedure that uses controlled radiofrequency energy to interrupt pain signals from selected nerves, most commonly the medial branch nerves supplying painful facet joints. It provides longer-lasting relief in appropriately selected patients.
At AREVA
At AREVA, we assess back pain to identify its underlying cause and develop a personalized treatment plan. Depending on the diagnosis, treatment may include medication, physiotherapy, rehabilitation and image-guided procedures such as epidural injections, selective nerve-root blocks, facet joint injections and radiofrequency treatment for selected pain sources. Our goal is to relieve pain, restore mobility and help patients return to daily activities while avoiding unnecessary surgery whenever appropriate.