When treating chronic pain, it is beneficial to focus on long-term improvements instead of relying on painkillers. Physical therapy and rehabilitation as well as psychological therapies can go a long way in alleviating pain and improving function. Pharmacological interventions, however, have often kept patients from a full recovery.
Healthday News reported on one medical intervention that showed little improvement in the degeneration of the lower spine.
Older adults who received steroid injections to counter low back pain actually fared worse than people who did not undergo the treatment, one study suggested.
The study was published in the journal Spine and consisted of nearly 300 subjects with spinal stenosis. The worst symptoms of this condition include pain and cramping in the legs, especially when standing or walking for too long. Besides anti-inflammatory painkillers, the typical forms of treatments for spinal stenosis include physical therapy and, potentially, surgery. Before choosing surgery, however, many patients opt for steroid injections.
The researchers found that patients who choose this path do not fare as well as other patients even though they do experience some pain relief. This indicates that steroid injections do not provide a full recovery to the patient.
“I think we need to look at the results with some caution,” Dr. Kris Radcliff, a spine surgeon with the Rothman Institute at Thomas Jefferson University in Philadelphia, told the source. “It’s still reasonable to offer this as an option … These patients did improve; they just didn’t improve as much as the others.”
Another spinal surgeon explained that spinal stenosis is a progressive disease and no treatment can fully cure it. Even surgery may not work, as symptoms may come back several years later. While spinal stenosis may be a complicated disease, this study shows that pharmacological interventions are not always the best choice for some patients.
With the help of psychological services, physical therapy and interventional procedures, patients with chronic pain will be able to improve their pain management techniques and enjoy a fuller, brighter future.