Chronic Low Back Pain Treatment - Guidelines For Effective Pain Relief

There is a wide range of treatments available and also varying costs are involved, while they all have the same end result, making it imperative for proper guidelines for treatment of chronic low back pain. The American College of Physicians as well as the American Pain Society have prepared a complete set of guidelines that doctors can use in case of patients with chronic low back pain. A range of factors have been defined by them to treat each patient correctly.

An important factor in the chronic low back pain treatment guidelines makes it necessary to state the cause of the back pain in a specific category, e.g. back pain caused by mechanical reasons like vertebra, facet joints, disc, spinous process, nerve root, and traverse process; or scoliosis, a congenital conditions. Other categories include infections, tumors and diseases apart from back pain due to injuries such as sports injuries or whiplash. When the chronic low back pain treatment guidelines were not defined, nearly all the back problems got the same treatment, with about the same outcome.

Another key recommendation in chronic low back pain treatment guidelines says that in case X-rays or other imaging tests have to be performed on the patient, their criteria should be clearly stated. These criteria should specify the nature of the back pain of the patient under treatment and its causes. Besides these, the chronic low back pain treatment guidelines also specify that the course of treatment and nature of medicines prescribed should be clearly explained, according to the nature of the back pain. For example, whether prescription, holistic, alternative, massage or physical therapy, whatever is recommended, should be determined by the type that works best for the back pain under advisement.

If the patients and doctors both use the chronic low back pain treatment guidelines as expected, the likelihood of early and successful treatment will be much more. Also the chances of having to go in for multiple treatments for chronic low back pain will be significantly reduced.

The cost of treatment will also be much lower if the chronic low back pain treatment guidelines are followed. As the increasing cost of providing healthcare over the years has been a matter of concern, for both the patients as well as the authorities and doctors, these guidelines are a step in the right direction. If correctly used in all cases, the chronic low back pain treatment guidelines will go a long way to help the patients understand the nature of their ailment as well as about the treatment plan.