Back and Neck Care
If you have back or neck pain, you're not alone. Back and neck problems trouble nearly 80 percent of people 30 years and older, and lower back pain is one of the main causes for missed work. Luckily, neck and back pain treatment is no longer a world away—in fact, it's offered right here in Asheboro.
Randolph Health offers a comprehensive back and neck care program that uses the latest back and neck pain treatment techniques.
Our Neck and Back Doctor
Shakeel Durrani, MD, with Randolph Health Orthopedics & Sports Medicine, is a fellowship-trained back and neck doctor who incorporates conservative treatments as well as innovative surgical techniques to best meet the needs of each patient. Dr. Durrani and his team of professionals have developed a program that delivers quality back and neck care close to home.
Conservative Treatment
The back is a complicated structure of bones, joints, ligaments and muscles. You can sprain ligaments, strain muscles, rupture discs and irritate joints, all of which can lead to back and neck pain.
Oftentimes, patients suffering from acute or chronic back or neck pain are able to manage their pain through conservative methods of treatment, including physical therapy or epidural steroid injections. Lifestyle changes like weight reduction and exercise are also important for helping prevent and manage back and neck pain.
Causes of Back and Neck Pain
While sports injuries or accidents can cause back and neck pain, sometimes the simplest of movements—for example, picking up a pencil from the floor—can have painful results. In addition, arthritis, poor posture, obesity and psychological stress can cause back and neck pain.
Nonsurgical Treatment Options
A patient's condition will determine if conservative or surgical approaches are appropriate. Randolph Health offers a full array of nonsurgical services (clicking a service below will reveal its definition):
Physical Therapy
A unique program to assess and increase function and reduce pain. Physical therapy can be done for back pain or neck pain.
Epidural Steroid Injections
A treatment for back spasms, neck spasms and soft tissue problems associated with headaches, neck pain and lower back pain.
Nerve Blocks
A nerve block is a pain relief method that is performed by injecting medication into or around a nerve or into the spine. The block actually changes how pain signals are sent to your brain.
If you suffer from back or neck pain, you may benefit from a nerve block injection to achieve temporary pain relief. Nerve block injections can allow an irritated nerve to rest, relieving the symptoms. Oftentimes the nerve block can provide diagnostic information to the doctor. By performing a nerve block and then monitoring how you respond to the injection, the doctor can often use this information to help determine the cause or source of the pain.
Facet Joint Injections
Facets are tiny joints located in your neck, upper back and lower back. Their purpose is to provide stability and guide motion in your spine. These joints can become painful because of arthritis, an injury or mechanical stress and, in turn, can cause lower back pain, as well as pain in the hip, buttock or leg. Injecting a steroid medication into the facet joint can numb the area and block the pain, oftentimes providing long-term pain relief. The injection can also help confirm or deny the joint as the source of your pain. In other words, if you experience total relief of your symptoms while the facet joint is numb, then this joint is likely the source of your pain, and future treatments can be directed toward the facet.
Radiofrequency Ablation
Radiofrequency ablation can help relieve back and neck pain by using heat to destroy nerves that carry pain signals.
Radiofrequency ablation can be used in patients who need longer-term pain relief than is often provided by nerve blocks or injections. Because ablation can actually destroy the nerves that carry pain impulses, the pain relief can last from a few months up to year.
Once you have undergone a thorough examination by your physician, he or she will decide if you would be better served by another treatment or if radiofrequency ablation is right for you.
Implants of Spinal Cord Stimulator Trials
Spinal cord stimulation is a procedure that uses electrical impulses to keep back pain signals from being recognized in the brain. Instead of pain, the patient feels a more pleasant tingling sensation. The goal is to lower the level of back pain while improving the quality of daily living.