Back pain is a very common symptom at any age. Often, it indicates the defeat of various systems: musculoskeletal, respiratory, digestive. When your back hurts, don't self-medicate. Only a doctor can quickly determine the cause and treatment tactics.
Back pain
Back pain is very different. It can be associated with eating or coughing, psychoemotional experiences. The causes of this symptom are gastroduodenitis and cholecystitis, bronchitis and pneumonia, angina pectoris and acute coronary syndrome. However, these diseases are often accompanied by other characteristic ailments, which allow the doctor to correctly make a differential diagnosis.
Much more often, back pain is a sign of damage to the musculoskeletal system. Occurs in such diseases:
- Osteochondrosis (thoracic, lumbar or common).
- Scoliosis.
- Outgoing.
- Intervertebral hernia.
- spinal stenosis.
By themselves, these degenerative diseases rarely present with pain. However, as the pathology progresses, the nerve roots and fibers become involved in the process. Its infringement, compression leads to the appearance of neurological symptoms:
- Pain in the back, chest, lower back.
- Unusual sensations: burning, tingling, numbness.
- Movement disorders.
Back pain can be chronic or acute. As a general rule, in diseases of the musculoskeletal system there is a clear relationship between discomfort and physical activity, movement or breathing. To eliminate them, doctors resort to prescribing ointments, tablets and painkillers.
Treatment
Injections for pain in the back and lower back are a very effective method of treatment. Often it is with them that pain syndrome therapy begins, especially if the patient's discomfort is very pronounced.
Sometimes, in addition to injections, other forms of anti-inflammatory drugs are used:
- Gels and ointments.
- Tablets, capsules, powders.
- rectal ovules.
Very often the same drug is available in different forms. And the doctor selects the optimal option for the patient, relieving pain, taking into account his characteristics, tolerability and concomitant diseases. Some people can't stand injections for fear of pain, and the mere sight of a sharp needle can cause them to panic. Others, on the other hand, mistrust local forms, considering them insufficiently effective.
More often, however, injections for lower back or chest pain are the most popular and best-selling medications.
injections
Anesthesia injections for back pain are used for moderate and severe forms of diseases of the musculoskeletal system. They are also prescribed when it is necessary to obtain a very fast or stable long-term effect.
Some anti-inflammatory injections are prescribed after surgery as pain relievers. The following medications are available in the form of injections:
- Nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs or NSAIDs).
- Steroid hormones.
- Muscle relaxants.
- vitamins
NSAIDs
Nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs) are a large and very popular group of drugs among physicians in various specialties. NSAIDs are widely used in the following medical fields:
- Rheumatology;
- traumatology
- orthopedics;
- therapy.
The most common indications for your appointment are:
- osteochondrosis;
- intervertebral bulges and hernias;
- intercostal neuralgia;
- various radiculopathies;
- bruises and sprains.
steroid hormones
Steroid hormones are a special class of drugs. They have a pronounced anti-inflammatory effect. But there are many side effects of these drugs.
Hormonal injections are used for back pain with hernia, rheumatoid arthritis and Bechterew's disease, radiculopathy. The main indications for their appointment are:
- Severe pain syndrome.
- A strong inflammatory process, especially of autoimmune and allergic origin.
- The need for a stable analgesic effect.
Hormones can be produced in tablets, but for pain in the spine, back and joints, intramuscular and intravenous injections are prescribed. This allows you to quickly reduce pain and stop inflammation.
Steroid hormones can be prescribed together with NSAIDs, but this combination requires careful monitoring of the patient's health.
muscle relaxants
Muscle relaxants in the treatment of back pain began to be used relatively recently. However, due to their high efficiency, they have firmly established themselves on the prescription lists of doctors for dystrophic and degenerative diseases of the musculoskeletal system.
The mechanism of action of muscle relaxants is radically different from that of NSAIDs. They do not affect the inflammatory process in any way, they do not eliminate pathological edema and the pain associated with it.
These medications, as their name implies, relax the muscles. The mechanism of back pain is quite complex. It distinguishes not only the neuropathic component associated with the infringement of the nerve roots. Of great practical importance is muscle spasm, which occurs as a reflex response to degenerative processes in the spine and joints. It is not only accompanied by severe pain itself, but also exacerbates the inflammation in the injury.
That is why the appointment of muscle relaxants in conjunction with non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs allows you to stop the pain syndrome in a shorter time. What injections that relax the muscles do doctors usually prescribe?
vitamins
By themselves, vitamin preparations are not analgesics. However, therapists and neuropathologists almost always prescribe them for back pain. What are the reasons for these recommendations?
The fact is that pain in the chest or behind, between the shoulder blades and in the lower back, with degenerative injuries is always associated with the involvement of nerve roots in the process. It is their infringement that leads to the appearance of unpleasant symptoms. However, the compression of the nerve fibers is not only fraught with pain, but their sheath also suffers. As the process progresses, the nerves themselves are destroyed and the manifestations of radiculopathies intensify.
Group B vitamins have repairing properties in relation to nerve fibers.
B Group
Vitamins of this group are available in the form of tablets, dragees and injections. In the acute period, neuropathologists usually prescribe injections according to the established scheme, as a rule, for a period of 10 days, and in the future they recommend switching to oral forms. They should be taken within a month.
Previously, such vitamins existed in three separate injections: B1, B6, B12. Considering that each injection is painful in itself, the administration of such a cocktail caused a lot of suffering to the patient.
However, today pharmacies offer a huge selection of combined preparations, one of which already contains all the necessary B vitamins.
B vitamins are now an essential component of the established treatment regimen for various radiculopathies and neuropathies. That is why these injections are always on the prescription list for acute back pain along with NSAIDs and muscle relaxants.
Gels and ointments
Although anesthetic injection works quickly and effectively relieves discomfort, many patients prefer topical forms of medication. These include gels, creams, and ointments.
These products do not require special skills to use, even a child can apply the gel to the affected area. Also, topical forms are safer, because the active substance is practically not absorbed through the skin. This means that the risk of systemic side effects of the drug is minimized.
This is especially true for nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs, which have an impressive list of toxic effects.
Ointments, gels and creams often help with back pain when it comes to mild forms of the disease. They are also preferred in the following situations:
- In children and elderly patients.
- With bruises and sprains of the ligamentous apparatus.
- With concomitant pathology: diseases of the blood coagulation system, gastrointestinal tract, with bleeding hemorrhoids.
The use of nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory ointments and gels rarely leads to the development of complications, even with their uncontrolled application. This is often the sin of elderly patients with chronic pain and severe forgetfulness. In this case, the safer anti-inflammatory drugs become the drugs of choice.
Tablets, capsules, powders
Tablets and capsules are an excellent alternative to injections for back pain. The name of the drug may be the same or different.
Most NSAIDs are available in both oral and injectable forms. In addition, there is a large number of medicinal analogues. That is why you should not replace the drug yourself if it suddenly turns out to be ineffective, because there is always the possibility of buying a drug with the same active ingredient, but in the form of injections or under a different name.
Tablets are the most common oral form of anti-inflammatory medication. Almost any non-steroidal drug is available, even in tablet form. They are easy to use, divide and dose. The tablets are suitable for patients of any age group, except for children under 4-6 years of age, who may choke on them.
Oral forms of nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs are preferred for the treatment of spinal diseases, as they are much more convenient to use.
Also, some drugs are sometimes as powerful as injections.
rectal ovules
Rectal suppositories with an anti-inflammatory drug in the composition are widely represented in any pharmacy. They serve as an alternative to both the oral forms and injections used for back pain.
This form of release provides a faster analgesic effect than tablets and capsules. This is due to the accelerated absorption of the analgesic substance in the rectum. But, at the same time, its action develops more slowly than with intramuscular and intravenous injections. Although the portability of rectal ovules is much better.
Doctors, as a rule, prescribe this form for mild and moderate forms of damage to the spine, after surgery, to obtain an anesthetic effect.
Due to the nature of the application, rectal suppositories are not suitable for all patients, however they remain a safe, effective and popular pain relief.
The choice of the form of the drug for back pain syndrome is the prerogative of the doctor. It is he who decides the issue in favor of injections or tablets, gels or suppositories, depending on the patient's specific disease and comorbidities. In most cases, therapy is carried out according to a certain scheme: injections in the first days of the disease to relieve acute pain, and pills or other forms - at the recovery stage.