Staying active is one of the best tips for growing older gracefully. A body that’s in motion prefers to stay in motion! Physical activity is the best way to tone muscles and improve flexibility and mobility. Even if our intentions for staying active are good, low back pain can interrupt these plans and make bed rest the day’s priority. If you’re suffering from lower back pain, you’re not alone. Back pain is a condition that affects almost 80% of people at some point in their life. Therapies for low back pain may begin with cold packs, bed rest, and compression, but if you’re not feeling substantial pain relief, where should you turn next?

At Pain Treatment Specialists, our board-certified and Harvard-trained pain doctors offer a wide variety of low back pain treatments that are effective at reducing or eliminating your lower back pain. Low back pain treatments offered at our state-of-the-art clinic will get you back to physical activity quickly, since our treatments are minimally-invasive and do not rely on surgery or muscle relaxants to treat back pain.

Minimally-Invasive Low Back Pain Treatments

Low back pain treatment does not have to mean surgery, which keeps you off of your feet and away from physical activity for an extended period of time. Therapies for low back pain treatment include ablations, injections, and physical therapy. Some pain doctors skip over these treatment options and jump right into surgery as their solution for low back pain. At Pain Treatment Specialists, our interventional pain doctors utilize a variety of treatment options that are designed to provide immediate pain relief, treat sore muscles and improve mobility, and return you quickly back to the physical activities that you love. Some of the low back pain treatments offered at Pain Treatment Specialists include:

• Physical Therapy: An effective low back pain treatment is physical therapy. Your interventional pain doctor works in conjunction with your physical therapist to customize a therapy plan designed to strengthen muscles and improve flexibility and mobility. Your physical therapist accomplishes this through aerobic training, strength training, and pain relief training. After this low back pain treatment, your return to physical activity is marked by increased strength and a better range of motion.
• Sacroiliac Joint Injection: This low back pain treatment is also known as an SI joint injection. The sacroiliac joint is located right above your tailbone. Symptoms of SI joint pain include pain in the lower back, buttocks, hips, and groin. During an SI joint injection your pain doctor uses an x-ray to guide a local anesthetic into the sacroiliac joint. The result of this low back pain treatment is instant pain relief in your lower back.
• Epidural Steroid Injection: Are herniated discs to blame for your low back pain? Then an epidural steroid injection, also known as an ESI, is an effective low back pain treatment. A corticosteroid is injected into the epidural space in the spine, which reduces inflammation and provides long-lasting pain relief.
• Facet Joint Injections: During this low back pain treatment a local anesthetic is injected around the nerves of one or more of the small joints located along the side of each vertebra. This low back pain treatment provides tremendous pain relief and is ideal for patients suffering from chronic lower back pain.
• Lumbar Radiofrequency Ablation: Radio waves are used during this low back pain treatment to stop the lumbar medial branch nerve roots from transmitting pain signals to the brain. Your pain doctor uses their expertise to locate and deliver this targeted treatment, which is miles ahead of treatment options for low back pain that can be offered through at-home remedies.

Cold packs, bed rest, and heating pads don’t have the same level of efficacy as cutting-edge low back pain treatments provided by expert pain doctors, such as the team at Pain Treatment Specialists. It is also critical to meet with a pain doctor to correctly identify the source of your lower back pain, such as a compression fracture or herniated disc.