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 determine the cause and tactics of treatment quickly.
Backache
Back pain is very different. It can be associated with eating or coughing, psycho-emotional experiences. The causes of these symptoms are gastroduodenitis and cholecystitis, bronchitis and pneumonia, angina pectoris and acute coronary syndrome. However, the disease is often accompanied by complaints of other features, which allows the doctor to make a differential diagnosis correctly.
More often, back pain is a sign of damage to the musculoskeletal system. It occurs in diseases such as:
- Osteochondrosis (thoracic, lumbar or common).
- Scoliosis.
- Prominence.
- Intervertebral hernia.
- spinal stenosis.
By itself, this degenerative disease is rarely present with pain. However, as the pathology progresses, nerve roots and fibers are involved in the process. Their violation, 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 rule, in diseases of the musculoskeletal system, there is a clear relationship of discomfort with physical activity, movement or respiration. To remove it, doctors use ointments, tablets and painkillers.
Treatment
Injections for pain in the back and lower back are a very effective method of treatment. Often, with them the therapy of pain syndrome begins, especially if the patient's discomfort is very significant.
Sometimes, in addition to injections, other forms of anti-inflammatory drugs are used:
- Gels and ointments.
- Tablets, capsules, powders.
- Rectal suppositories.
Often the same drug is available in different forms. And the doctor chooses the optimal option for the patient, relieving pain, taking into account its characteristics, tolerance and the corresponding disease. Some people can’t stand injections for fear of pain, and just looking at a sharp needle can cause them to panic. Others, on the other hand, do not believe in the local form, considering it ineffective enough.
Yet more often, injections for pain in the lower back or chest are the most popular and best -selling medication.
Injections
Anesthetic injections for back pain are used for moderate and severe forms of diseases of the musculoskeletal system. They are also prescribed when necessary to obtain a very quick or long -term stable effect.
Several anti-inflammatory injections are prescribed after surgery as a pain reliever. The following drugs are available in injectable form:
- Nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs or NSAIDs).
- Steroid hormones.
- Relax your muscles.
- vitamin.
NSAIDs
Non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs are a widespread group of drugs and are very popular among physicians of various specialties. NSAIDs are widely used in the following medical fields:
- rheumatology;
- traumatology
- orthopedic;
- therapy.
The most common indications for their appointment are:
- osteochondrosis;
- intervertebral protrusion and hernia;
- intercostal neuralgia;
- various radiculopathy;
- bruises and sprains.
Steroid hormones
Steroid hormones are a special class of drugs. They have a clear anti-inflammatory effect. But there are many side effects of these drugs.
Hormone injections are used for back pain with hernias, rheumatoid arthritis and Bechterew's disease, radiculopathy. The main indicators for their appointment are:
- Intense pain syndrome.
- Strong inflammatory processes, 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, joints, it is prescribed intramuscular and intravenous injections. This allows you to quickly reduce pain and stop inflammation.
Steroid hormones can be prescribed in conjunction with NSAIDs, but this combination requires careful monitoring of the patient’s health.
Relax your muscles
Muscle relaxation in the treatment of back pain began to be used quite recently. However, due to their high efficiency, they have established themselves in the list of doctor's prescriptions for dystrophic and degenerative diseases of the musculoskeletal system.
The mechanism of action of muscle relaxation is radically different from that of NSAIDs. They do not affect the inflammatory process in any way, do not eliminate the pathological edema and pain associated with it.
These medications, as the name implies, relax the muscles. The mechanism of back pain is rather complex. It distinguishes not only the neuropathic components associated with nerve root violations. 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 by itself, but also exacerbates the inflammation in the lesion.
That is why the appointment of muscle relaxants along with non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs allows you to stop the pain syndrome in a shorter time. What muscle -relaxing injections are usually prescribed by a doctor?
vitamin
By themselves, vitamin preparations are not painkillers. However, therapists and neuropathologists almost always prescribe them for back pain. What is the reason for this proposal?
The fact is that pain in the chest or back - between the shoulder blades and in the lower back - with degenerative lesions is always associated with nerve root involvement in the process. It is their violation that leads to the appearance of unpleasant symptoms. However, nerve fiber compression is not only fraught with pain, but the sheath also suffers. As the process progresses, the nerve itself is destroyed, and the manifestations of radiculopathies increase.
B group vitamins have reparative properties in relation to nerve fibers.
Group B
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 prescribed scheme - as a rule, for a period of 10 days, and in the future they recommend switching to the oral form. They should be taken within a month.
Previously, such vitamins existed in three separate injections - B1, B6, B12. Since each injection is painful in itself, the administration of such a cocktail causes the patient a lot of suffering.
However, today pharmacies offer many options of combined preparations, one ampoule of which already contains all the necessary B vitamins.
Vitamin B today is an important component of prescribed treatment regimens for various radicals- and neuropathies. That’s why these injections are always on the prescription list for acute back pain along with NSAIDs and muscle relaxants.
Gels and ointments
Although anesthetic injections work quickly and effectively to relieve discomfort, many patients prefer the topical form of medication. These include gels, creams and ointments.
This product requires no special skills to use - even a child can apply the gel to the affected area. In addition, the topical form is safer, because the active ingredient 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 non-steroidal 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 on the ligament apparatus.
- With the corresponding pathology - diseases of the blood coagulation system, gastrointestinal tract, with bleeding hemorrhoids.
The use of non-steroidal anti-inflammatory ointments and gels rarely leads to the development of complications, even with uncontrolled application. This is often the sin of elderly patients suffering from chronic pain and severe forgetfulness. In this case, the safest anti-inflammatory drug becomes the drug of choice.
Tablets, capsules, powders
Tablets and capsules are the best alternative to injections for back pain. Drug names can be the same or different.
Most non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs are available in oral and injectable forms. In addition, there are a large number of medical analogues. That is why you can not replace the drug itself if it suddenly turns out to be ineffective, because there is always the opportunity to buy 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 all non -steroidal drugs are available, including 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 the age of 4-6 years, who can choke on them.
Oral forms of non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs are preferred for the treatment of spinal diseases, as they are easier to use.
In addition, some drugs are sometimes as strong as injections.
Rectal suppositories
Rectal suppositories with anti-inflammatory drugs in the composition are widely represented in any pharmacy. They serve as an alternative to both oral and injectable forms used for back pain.
This form of release provides a faster achievement of analgesic effect than tablets and capsules. This is due to the accelerated absorption of analgesic substances in the rectum. But, at the same time, their action develops more slowly than intramuscular and intravenous injections. Although portable rectal suppositories are preferable.
Doctors, as a rule, prescribe this form for mild and moderate forms of damage to the spine, after surgery, to obtain anesthetic effect.
Due to the nature of its application, rectal suppositories are not suitable for all patients, however, they continue to be a safe, effective and popular remedy for pain.
The choice of medication form for back pain syndrome is the prerogative of the physician. He is the one who decides the issue in favor of injections or tablets, gels or suppositories - depending on the patient’s specific disease and comorbidities. Often, therapy is carried out according to a specific scheme - injections in the first days of the disease to relieve acute pain and pills or other forms - at the stage of recovery.