About acw22admin

Do you find yourself dealing with daily back pain? You might be shocked to learn there are several different reasons you could be dealing with this discomfort. The team at our pain management clinic has created a quick list of five surprising causes of back pain. If any of them sound like something you’re dealing with, then schedule an appointment for back pain treatment in Orange Park, FL, right away!

Insomnia – It is to be expected that trying to fall asleep with a sore back might not be the easiest thing in the world, but it should also be noted that back pain can develop because of that lack of sleep. One study found that you are almost two times more likely to develop back pain if you have insomnia or other sleeping problems!

The Way You Walk – Flat feet, foot pain, and other problems can throw you off your stride. When you are no longer walking in a healthy way, it can strain other parts of your body—like your back. Do you notice a backache flaring up when you stand up or start to walk? If so, it could be your stride causing the problem.

Smoking – Smokers are almost three times more likely to develop lower back pain than those who don’t smoke. This is because tobacco slows down blood flow to your tissues and bones. This leads to a painful breakdown in the disks of your spine. Worse, smoking also slows down healing, which will only make the ache linger longer.

Too-Tight Pants – They might look great on you, but those tight pants might hurt your back. Snug pants can change your posture and how you move, usually making things much more awkward for your lower spine and pelvis region. It can also make you slump when you sit, which weakens the muscles that keep your spine in line.

Video Gaming – The amount of time you spend seated throughout the day—especially with your head tilted forward and your shoulders slumped—can wreak havoc on your back. Poor posture and hours of sitting can lead to muscle stiffness and strain, so make sure you are getting up and moving around regularly to avoid developing back pain issues.

Arthritis can make performing everyday tasks much more painful and challenging, but did you know there are actually a number of different types of arthritis? Not only that, but the different types can have different symptoms and require unique arthritis treatment in Orange Park, FL.

To help you better identify the symptoms of the different types of arthritis, the doctors at our pain clinic have created the following helpful guide. If you find that you are experiencing any of these symptoms, you are encouraged to reach out to a pain doctor for a consultation so that you can begin a treatment plan.

Symptoms of Osteoarthritis

Joint Pain

Stiffness When Waking Up or After Sitting for a Long Time

Tenderness

Lack of Movement

Grating

Bone Spurs

Symptoms of Rheumatoid Arthritis

Joint Pain, Swelling, & Tenderness for Six Weeks or Longer

Morning Stiffness for at Least 30 Minutes

More Than One Joint Affected—Especially Small Joints in Your Feet, Hand, & Wrists

The Same Joints Affected on Both Sides of Your Body

Symptoms of Infectious Arthritis

Fever

Chills

Joint Inflammation

Tenderness

Sharp Paint Related to an Injury or Infection Elsewhere in Your Body

When you were younger, back pain could typically be attributed to factors of daily life. Maybe you were sitting at your desk too long or overdid it while exercising. As you get older, however, back pain becomes more and more common. In fact, many patients will simply shrug off symptoms even when those same symptoms are an indication that it is time to see a pain doctor in Jacksonville, FL.

To help you better understand whether or not you should visit a pain clinic, we have created a quick list of five sensations that might indicate a medical emergency. If you are experiencing any of these sensations, then make sure you are scheduling an appointment with your doctor right away:

Sharp Paint instead of a Dull Ache – This could indicate that you have a torn ligament or muscle. It could also mean a problem with an internal organ in the side or back.

Radiating Pain – This pain feels like it moves or shoots to the legs or the glutes. It could indicate a nerve compression condition.

Sudden Weakness in the Legs – Limb weakness can be caused by compressed nerves in the spine due to conditions such as spinal stenosis or sciatica. On the other hand, sudden leg weakness could also indicate a stroke.

Incontinence – When your back pain is paired with an inability to control your bladder or bowels, this is a sign of severe nerve compression or a spine infection, such as meningitis or discitis.

Numbness or Pins & Needles in the Groin or Glutes – Also known as saddle anesthesia, this is a possible sign of a serious nerve or spine condition.

Low back pain is one of the leading causes of disability worldwide, so everyone should understand its causes regardless of whether they are currently suffering from it. Due to our experience providing back pain treatment in Orange Park, FL, we’ve observed that one of the most common cases is muscle or ligament strain. Some patients strain these back muscles and spinal ligaments with a sudden, awkward movement, such as while falling. Other people’s strain is due to repeated motions, especially heavy lifting.

However, strain is only one potential cause. Other people come to our pain clinic due to other common issues, such as:

Bulging or Ruptured Disks: Your disks act as cushions between your spine’s bones. When they bulge or rupture, they might press on nerves and cause pain ranging from irritating to debilitating.

Arthritis: Your lower back has joints, so it too can suffer from arthritis. Some patients seek back pain treatment due to arthritis narrowing the space around their spinal cord. Others are suffering from different arthritis-related conditions.

Osteoporosis: Vertebrae are bones, so they can become porous and brittle in patients with osteoporosis. If you suffer a fracture or break, you may find yourself at a pain clinic for lower back pain relief.

Low back pain is something nearly everyone experiences eventually. In fact, it is one of the top causes of missed work in the United States. However, many people don’t know much about this common issue or how to deal with it. Read on to find out the basics of low back pain treatment in Orange Park, FL.

Your low back begins below the ribcage; this area is also called the lumbar region, named after the five lumbar vertebrae. While your low back is sturdy and resilient, it is also subjected to a constant heavy load and frequent stress. Low back pain may be the result of a repetitive motion injury, poor lifting techniques or sitting posture, or a sports or auto accident injury, among other things. It might feel like a dull ache, a stabbing or shooting sensation, or something else.

Acute vs. Chronic Low Back Pain

No matter what caused it, you should seek back pain treatment if the pain does not resolve in 72 hours and inhibits your daily life. Your treatment plan will depend on the nature of your injury and whether you are experiencing acute or chronic pain. Low back pain that comes on suddenly is “acute,” and it tends to be impermanent. If your pain lasts more than three months, it is “chronic.” Regardless of what you’re experiencing, a pain management physician can help you achieve relief and improve your quality of life.

Back pain is considered a chronic condition if it lasts three months or longer. While the pain can come and go, you might find yourself stuck on a horrible rollercoaster of temporary relief followed by pain and frustration. It can be particularly trying to deal with chronic back pain when you don’t know the cause. Age is a significant factor, but you might also find chronic back pain stemming from arthritis of the spine, spinal stenosis, disc problems, or myofascial pain syndrome.

Thankfully, there are ways for you to fight back against this pain. By visiting a pain clinic, you will learn about back pain treatment in Orange Park, FL, which can help reduce how often you suffer from chronic back pain—without needing surgery. Seven effective treatment options include:

Physical Therapy – Exercise is the foundation of almost any pain treatment—especially chronic back pain. Under the guidance of your physician and spine physical therapist, you will be able to create a customized exercise regimen tailored to address your specific symptoms and condition.

Mindfulness & Meditation – Physical therapy is training for your body, but your mind also benefits from some exercise of its own. Since chronic pain can be emotionally straining, learning how to mediate through different relaxation strategies will help you better manage depression, irritability, and frustration related to your chronic pain.

Diet – There is an old saying “you are what you eat,” well, there is some truth to that. Some diets are highly inflammatory—especially those with lots of processed foods. Since this food causes inflammation, it is much more likely to aggravate your chronic back pain when you eat it. Eating healthier will guide you away from inflammatory food while also helping you get to a healthier weight, which puts less stress on your spine.

Lifestyle Modifications – From big changes to small ones, changing your routine is a good idea if you are dealing with chronic pain. Maybe make a few trips when carrying in groceries instead of trying to bring everything in at once, quit smoking, and take breaks when doing physically taxing tasks.

Injection-Based Treatments – Advancements in medical technology means there are now many injection-based procedures to help you with chronic back pain. When your physician knows the source of the pain, they can target the area with the goal of stopping or lessening your pain with nerve blocks, epidural steroid injections, or nerve ablations.

Alternative Treatments – Some might turn to alternative treatments, such as acupuncture, biofeedback therapy, massage, laser therapy, or electrical nerve stimulation, to address their chronic back pain. Talk to your spine specialist before signing up for any of these treatments to see what they recommend.

Pharmacologic Treatments – Anti-inflammatory drugs, analgesics, muscle relaxants, and other medications can sometimes help you control your chronic back pain. However, these are not long-term solutions since they can have unwanted side effects.

Radiofrequency ablation in Orange Park, FL, is an impressive treatment option often used to manage pain originating from your spine and joints, especially in your neck and lower back area. How does it work? When it comes to pain management, RFA sends radio waves through a precisely placed needle to heat an area of the nerve and destroy the tissue. This prevents pain signals from being sent back to your brain. That makes this pain management an option for dealing with long-term pain conditions.

In your spine, nerves branch off from your spinal cord and travel to the facet and sacroiliac joints. These facet joints are located between the vertebrae in your spine and allow for flexibility and movement of your back. Sacroiliac joints, on the other hand, are found near the bottom of your spine and send pain signals from the spine to your brain.

With radiofrequency ablation, doctors are able to treat the targeted medial branch nerve in the facet joints or the lateral branch nerve in the sacroiliac joints to decrease the amount of pain signals that reach your brain. Typically, the goals of RFA are to:

Stop or Reduce Pain

Improve Function

Reduce the Amount of Pain Medications You Need to Take

Avoid or Delay Surgery

Whether you’re new to migraines or you’ve been suffering from them for years, you’re likely seeking out ways to reduce your symptoms without relying entirely on drugs. The following are some suggestions from the team at Florida Pain Physicians. Visit us to learn more or find out if you’re a candidate for Botox migraine treatment in Jacksonville, FL.

Adjust Your Diet: Many people’s migraines are triggered by certain foods. Keep a food diary tracking what you eat and when migraines occur to determine what may be triggering you and then eliminate it from your diet.

Try Essential Oils: Some people report getting relief from lavender oil and peppermint oil. You can either inhale these oils directly or dilute them with a carrier oil and apply small amounts to your temples.

Schedule Acupuncture: Research indicates that routine acupuncture sessions could help prevent migraines and reduce their symptoms. You can learn more about acupuncture’s potential by contacting our pain management clinic.

Eat Ginger: You’ve likely heard that ginger helps with nausea—that includes nausea that some people experience due to migraines. Some research also suggests it may have pain-relieving benefits for migraines as well.

Start a Yoga Routine: Yoga isn’t just good exercise; it can also be an important part of your migraine treatment plan. Some scientists believe this is because it can help you release tension in migraine-trigger areas and improve your vascular health.

Steroid injections can be an effective way to treat conditions like osteoarthritis, inflammatory joint disease, and other conditions affecting your hips or knees. However, they are not a magic cure-all. Read on to learn what you should know before seeking guided steroid injections in Orange Park, FL, for your knee or hip.

Efficacy

Many patients experience significant pain relief from a single injection; most see symptom improvement in just a few days, and the pain relief often lasts for several months. However, you may need multiple treatments. Likewise, you might need to incorporate the injection into a broader pain management plan, such as combining it with pain-relieving drugs or physical therapy. If you do not see any lasting improvement, you may want to talk to your doctor about other options.

Safety

Steroid injections are clinically proven to be safe and effective at relieving joint pain and inflammation. However, like any injection, you may experience temporary discomfort. If you’d like to use a local anesthetic to numb the target area prior to injection, talk to your doctor.

Side Effects

Some patients experience a temporary joint pain flare-up within 24 hours of their guided steroid injection. Other infrequent side effects reported include bruising, skin discoloration, and infection, but these are infrequent.

Until recently, little was known about the relationship between smoking and migraines. While science had confirmed that smoking posed several health concerns, some still believed the habit might be beneficial for migraine sufferers. However, modern research indicates that tobacco use is anything but beneficial for most people. If you’re a smoker undergoing migraine treatment in North Florida, here is what you should know about the latest research.

Migraine Sufferers Are More Likely to Smoke: A study in Spain found that of the people surveyed, 20% of non-migraine sufferers smoked compared to 29% of migraine sufferers. Likewise, a study in Detroit uncovered that 33% of migraine sufferers used tobacco. Furthermore, the number of cigarettes smoked per day correlated with the frequency of their migraines.

Smokers Experience More Intense Headaches: A study conducted at a headache pain management clinic found that headache intensity was higher for smokers than non-smokers. Their data suggested that smoking was detrimental to the treatment program as well, meaning smoking patients saw less effective results.

Quitting Probably Won’t Cure You—But It Could Help: Chronic migraines are complex. While it would be nice to have a simple answer like “Just quit,” current research shows that smoking doesn’t necessarily cause migraines. However, the habit does seem to contribute to their frequency and intensity. Plus, smoking is detrimental to other aspects of your health. If you quit, you will likely find that you feel healthier overall and that your migraine treatments are more successful.