Back Pain Doctors In Cincinnati

Chronic back pain tends to affect most working Americans sometime during their career. In fact, back pain is the number one cause of missed work and workman's compensation claims annually in the U.S. It even winds up costing workers and employers over $50 billion dollars a year in diagnostic and treatment options in order to diagnose and cure the various causes, conditions, and damages of back pain.
There are several different types of back injuries that can be caused by the line of work you are in, along with several ways to both diagnose and treat these various conditions.
The Office Worker
Office work, while it may sound like an injury free job, does come with some common hazards. Spending hours sitting in front of a desk, hunched over a keyboard, can lead to several back and neck problems. Hunching for an extended period of time can lead to irritation of the tendons and muscles of the spinal column, which can lead to moderate to severe chronic back pain. Proper office and computer ergonomics, the design of making the workplace fitting the worker, can help to prevent these types of non-accidental injuries. Make sure you sit up while you work on your computer, and that you don't hunch.
There is also some lifting required for office jobs, including things like computer parts and monitors, boxes of paper and supplies, and moving office equipment, such as copiers around the office. Follow proper lifting guidelines to perform all of these tasks. If you lift improperly, you may strain, pull, or tear muscles and tendons.
The Manual Laborer
Working in factories or construction is a physically demanding job, and along with those physical demands come the potential for injury, especially to the neck and back. Back pain caused by repetitive movements or lifting can often strain or pull muscles and tendons, herniate discs in the back, or can even lead to compression fractures and broken vertebrae. When performing this type of job, you should follow all the proper safety guidelines and lifting guidelines to help prevent injuries of the back and spine from developing. Should you develop back pain, you should see a doctor about it. Continuing work while your back is injured will only make the problem worse, and it will then take longer to diagnose, treat, and ultimately, heal.
Seniors
As we age, the body starts to break down with time. As we start to hit our golden years, everyone should be more conscious about back pain. Issues that we could normally overcome while younger become harder to treat, and the older we get, the more likely we are to develop vertebral fractures, which can cause severe back pain and require surgical intervention. As we get older, we should all be more careful performing everyday activities, and should see a doctor when chronic back pain starts to develop.
Diagnostic Tools
Should you already be experiencing chronic back pain, there are a number of diagnostic tools used to find the cause. There are several different conditions that can commonly cause back pain to develop, and the proper tesst are needed to determine both the nature of the injury, as well as the precise location to be treated.
MRI, or magnetic resonance imaging, is one of the most common procedures performed. It uses radio waves and magnetic fields to create detailed images of the body's internal structures. These images include the bones, muscles, tendons, and various soft tissues in detailed images. When an MRI is taken of the spinal column, doctors are able to detect whether there is an area of irritation in the soft tissue, a vertebral fracture of the spine, a herniated disc or other abnormality causing your back pain.
Computed tomography is another diagnostic tool used to identify the cause of back pain. The tool is commonly known as CT or CAT scan, which uses specialized x-ray equipment to take multiple images of the spinal column. This data is then transformed into cross sectional pictures of you body, showing the exact area of damage or irritation. The CAT scan is useful for detecting many types of pathology and causes of back pain, including arthritis, fractures, tumors, infection, etc.
Fluoroscopy is another imaging test, which uses live action or real time X-ray evaluation of your spine. Fluoroscopy is also used during non-invasive medical treatment procedures.
Treatment Options
After the cause of you back pain has been identified, there may be several different non-invasive medical procedures that can be used to treat your back pain. Non-invasive procedures use body-imaging technology to guide medical instruments to the damaged area, eliminating the need for open surgery. An interventional radiologist performs non-invasive procedures using imaging guidance.
- · Epidural Steroid Injection (ESI) is medical treatment procedure, which involves the injection of long-acting steroids into the epidural space of the spinal column. This treatment reduces irritation to the soft tissue and nerves of the spine. The area of the injection is numbed using a locale anesthetic. A needle is then inserted into the epidural space of the spinal column using fluoroscopic (x-ray) guidance. This space is the area between the dura or thecal sac, which holds the spinal fluid, and the surrounding bone of the the spinal column. Once the steroid is injected, inflammation is reduced and the patient will begin to experience relief of their back pain. Many patients require a second or third injection administered over a certain period of time, normally two weeks apart.
- · Vertebroplasty is a procedure used to treat fractured vertebra. Whether the fracture is from a fall or other trauma, osteoporosis, or weakening of the bone due to other medical problems, vertebra may develop fractures causing severe back pain. Over the years, this procedure has been developed to eliminate the need for open surgery on the spinal column. It is considered to be as effective or more effective than open surgery. The skin overlying the fractured vertebra is numbed using a local anesthetic. Then a needle is inserted through the skin into the fractured bone using fluoroscopy, or real time x-ray. Next bone cement is injected through the needle into the damaged area of the vertebra, stabilizing the fracture, and usually eliminating the pain it caused by the fracture within just a few days.
- · Kyphoplasty is a procedure similar to vertebroplasty, but also involves insertion of an inflatable balloon catheter device into the vertebral compression fracture to possibly restore the vertebra to a more normal shape and also create a void for the cement to collect, which helps stabilize the bone and reduce pain caused by the fracture. The balloon is then deflated and removed prior to filling the fractured bone with cement. Most patients tend to experience a reduction or elimination of pain within 2-3 days of the treatment.
Where Can I Get These Procedures?
Professional Radiology, one of the largest back pain diagnostic and treatment practices in Cincinnati. All diagnostic and minimally invasive treatment options for your back pain are offered. If you are currently experiencing back pain in Cincinnati, diagnostic and treatment services are available at The Christ Hospital, The Jewish Hospital, Fort Hamilton Hospital, and several independent imaging and medical centers scattered through the area.
If you are experiencing back pain in the Cincinnati area, there are currently five locations you can seek treatment at. Please call for an appointment first.
The Christ Hospital
2139 Auburn Ave.
Cincinnati, Ohio
513-585-2421
Jewish Hospital
4777 East Galbraith Road
Cincinnati, Ohio
513-686-3263
The Fort Hamilton Hospital
630 Eaton Ave.
Hamilton, Ohio
513-867-2311
West Chester Medical Center
7700 University dr.
West Chester, Ohio
513-298-3300
Butler County Imaging Center
225 Pictoria Dr., Suite 800
Cincinnati, Ohio
513-454-1414
For More Information, Please Call 513-527-9999,
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