7/27/2019 November Your Aching Back

1/1November 2013 Bloomington Healthy Cells Magazine Pa

your aching back

"The straw that broke the camels back."

"Like water off a ducks back."

"Oh, my aching back."

Backs are designed to withstand quite a lot of stress. Structurally

speaking, our spine (backbone) provides structure enabling us

to move. Every twist, bend, and nod we make with our body

is dependent on the parts of the spine working together. Starting at

the base of the skull and ending at the tailbone, the 33 vertebrae and

spongy discs that separate and cushion them enable us to move by

infinitesimal degrees rather than being, well, stiff as a board.In addition to the structural purpose, our spine also provides a pro-

tected passageway for our spinal cord, which is the bundle of nerves

that serves as the superhighway of information from the brain to the

rest of the body and vice versa. A vast network of nerves constantly

sends information along this superhighway enabling us to move, feel,

and survive.

Given the importance of the spine, its easy to understand why back

pain can be so debilitating. Back pain can be caused by a variety of

reasons. Muscular aches and pains often arise from overexertion or

repetitive motion and often can be treated with over-the-counter medi-

cation, a few days of rest, and application of ice and heat. Although

most people are likely to have some kind of back pain in their life, the

majority of issues will resolve on their own by using these methods.

Structural issues, such as damage or stress to the spine itself, also

cause significant amounts of back pain. Degeneration of joints, disc

problems, stress damage, scar tissue buildup from previous back sur-

gery, or trauma injuries to the back present an entirely different set

of circumstances and typically cause chronic back problems that no

amount of home-based treatments alleviate.

Finding out just what exactly is the cause that is producing these

painful effects in patients is what Dr. Ben Taimoorazy of Guardian

Headache and Pain Management Institute does. A variety of inter-

ventional spine procedures can alleviate a patients pain, but first he

must determine what is causing the pain. Back pain is common in

younger patients due to their work, such as a labor intensive job, or

their physical activities such as sports or extreme hobbies, he says.

Older patients often suffer pain due to degeneration and deterioration

due to their age.

The type of pain provides another clue. The discs between the

vertebrae in the spine contain water, and, as we age, the amount of

water decreases, leading to fracturing of the disc, which causes local-

ized pain when radial tears form in and around the nerves in the disc

wall. But a bulging (herniated) disc, in which the nucleus of the disc

itself pushes through the outer wall and presses against the nerve,

often causes pain, numbness, or tingling that radiates down the entire

nerve into the legs or shoulders and arms, depending on where the

bulge is located.

Another common source of back pain is caused by damage to the

facet joints where each vertebra connects with the vertebrae above

and below it. These joints can become stressed or damaged, and

cartilage that covers the joints to allow movement wears away, a

ing the joints to become swollen and eventually rub against each o

forming bone spurs.

All of these conditions can cause irritation and inflammation, w

causes pain. The pain can be similar, so its very important to

row down the specific cause through examination, explains

Taimoorazy. Otherwise the patient could experience more back

from a treatment that not only does not address their problem

could also exacerbate it.

The nervous system is plastic it remembers pain, says

Taimoorazy. When neurons transmit pain signals to the brain

surrounding neurons join in and new pain pathways are forme

becomes a vicious, and often chronic, problem. His goal is to diag

the cause of his patients pain and intervene so that the transmis

of pain signals is vastly reduced or eliminated altogether.

So instead of pain breaking the camels back, it could roll like w

off a ducks back the result of which is no more aching back.

For more information, you may contact Dr. Benjamin Taimoo

at Guardian Headache & Pain Management Inst itute at 309-

1700 or www.theGuardianPainInstitute.com. The practice is loc

at 2203 East land Drive, Suite 7, in Bloomington. Dr. Taimoo

strives to increase awareness and understanding of different t

of headaches and other chronic painful conditions and the avai

diagnostic and therapeutic options for each individual disorder.

Finding the Cause of Chronic PainPart 1

By Becky Wiese