Back pain is a common symptom at any age. Often it indicates the defeat of various systems - musculoskeletal, respiratory, digestive. Do not self-medicate when your back hurts. 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, psycho-emotional 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 complaints, which allows the doctor to make a correct differential diagnosis.
More often, back pain is a sign of damage to the musculoskeletal system. Occurs in such diseases:
- Osteochondrosis (thoracic, lumbar or general).
- Scoliosis.
- Protraction.
- Intervertebral hernia.
- spinal stenosis.
By themselves, these degenerative diseases rarely manifest themselves with pain. However, as the pathology progresses, nerve roots and fibers are involved in the process. Their violation, compression causes 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 association of anxiety with physical activity, movement or breathing. To eliminate them, doctors prescribe ointments, tablets and painkillers.
Treatment
Injections are a very effective treatment for back and lumbar pain. Often, pain syndrome therapy begins with them, especially if the patient's anxiety is very obvious.
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, taking into account its characteristics, tolerance and accompanying diseases, chooses the optimal option for the patient who relieves pain. Some people can't stand needles for fear of pain, and just seeing a sharp needle can cause them to panic. Others, on the other hand, are skeptical of local forms and do not consider them effective enough.
However, more often needles for back or chest pain are the most popular and best-selling medications.
Injections
Anesthetic injections for low back pain are used for moderate to severe forms of musculoskeletal disorders. They are also prescribed when you need to get a very fast or long-lasting, stable effect.
Some anti-inflammatory shots are prescribed as painkillers after surgery. The following medications are available as injections:
- Non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs or NSAIDs).
- Steroid hormones.
- Muscle relaxants.
- Vitamins.
NSAIDs
Non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs are a broad and very popular group of drugs among doctors of various specialties. NSAIDs are widely used in the following areas of medicine:
- rheumatology;
- traumatology
- orthopedics;
- therapy.
The most common indicators for their determination are:
- osteochondrosis;
- protrusions and intervertebral hernias;
- intercostal neuralgia;
- various radiculopathies;
- bruises and sprains.
Steroid hormones
Steroid hormones are a special class of drugs. They have an obvious anti-inflammatory effect. However, these drugs have many side effects.
Hormonal injections are used for back pain with hernia, rheumatoid arthritis and Bechterew's disease, radiculopathy. The main indicators for their appointment are:
- Severe pain syndrome.
- A strong inflammatory process, especially of autoimmune and allergic origin.
- Need 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 combination with NSAIDs, but this combination requires careful monitoring of the patient's health.
Muscle relaxants
Muscle relaxants have only recently been used to treat low back pain. However, due to its high effectiveness, it is firmly established in 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 NSAIDs. They do not affect the inflammatory process in any way, do not eliminate the pathological edema and associated pain.
These drugs, as the name implies, relax the muscles. The mechanism of low back pain is very complex. It only distinguishes the neuropathic component associated with nerve root damage. Muscle spasm, which is of great practical importance, occurs as a reflex reaction to degenerative processes in the spine and joints. This is not only accompanied by severe pain in itself, but also exacerbates inflammation in the lesion.
Therefore, the appointment of muscle relaxants in combination with non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs allows to stop the pain syndrome as soon as possible. Which muscle relaxant injections are usually prescribed by doctors?
vitamins
Self-medication is not painful. However, therapists and neurologists almost always prescribe them for back pain. What are the reasons for these recommendations?
The fact is that pain with degenerative lesions in the chest or back - between the shoulder blades and in the lower back - is always associated with the involvement of nerve roots in the process. It is their violation that causes the appearance of unpleasant symptoms. However, compression of nerve fibers causes not only pain, but also their shell. As the process progresses, the nerves themselves are destroyed, and the manifestations of radiculopathy intensify.
B vitamins have restorative 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, neurologists usually prescribe needles according to the established scheme - as a rule, they recommend a period of 10 days and in the future to take the oral form. They should be taken within a month.
Previously, such vitamins were available in three separate injections - B1, B6, B12. Given that each injection is painful in itself, the use of such a cocktail caused the patient a lot of suffering.
However, today pharmacies offer a large selection of combined drugs that contain all the necessary B vitamins in one ampoule.
B vitamins are an important component of the treatment regimen currently prescribed for various radiculo- and neuropathies. Therefore, these needles are always on the list of recipes for acute back pain, along with NSAIDs and muscle relaxants.
Gels and ointments
Although anesthetic injections quickly and effectively relieve anxiety, 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. In addition, topical forms are safer because the active substance is practically not absorbed through the skin. This means that the risk of systemic side effects is minimized.
This is especially true for non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs, which have an effective list of toxic effects.
When it comes to mild forms of the disease, ointments, gels and creams often help with back pain. They are also preferred in the following cases:
- In children and elderly patients.
- With rot and twisting of the garden apparatus.
- With concomitant pathology - with blood clotting system, diseases of the gastrointestinal tract, bleeding hemorrhoids.
The use of non-steroidal anti-inflammatory ointments and gels rarely leads to the development of complications, even with their uncontrolled use. This is often the fault of elderly patients with chronic pain and severe forgetfulness. In this case, the safest 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 non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs are available in both oral and injectable forms. In addition, there are many drug analogues. Therefore, if it suddenly turns out to be ineffective, you should not replace the drug yourself, because there is always a chance to take the drug with the same active ingredient, but in the form of injections or under a different name.
Tablets are the most common oral anti-inflammatory drug. It is available in the form of almost any non-steroidal drug, including tablets. They are easy to use, divide and dose. The tablets are suitable for patients of all ages, except for children under 4-6 years.
Oral forms of non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs are preferred for the treatment of spinal diseases because they are more convenient to use.
In addition, some medications are sometimes as strong as injections.
Rectal suppositories
Rectal suppositories, which contain an anti-inflammatory drug, are widely used in any pharmacy. They serve as an alternative to both 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 rapid absorption of the analgesic in the rectum. However, at the same time, their action develops more slowly than intramuscular and intravenous injections. Although it is better to carry rectal suppositories.
Doctors usually prescribe this form for mild to moderate spinal cord injury after surgery to achieve an anesthetic effect.
Due to the nature of the application, rectal suppositories are not suitable for all patients, but they continue to be a safe, effective and popular remedy for pain.
The choice of dosage form for low back pain syndrome is at the discretion of the physician. Depending on the specific disease of the patient and additional diseases, it is the one who solves the problem in favor of injections or tablets, gels or suppositories. Often therapy is carried out according to a certain scheme - injections to relieve acute pain and pills or other forms in the first days of the disease - in the recovery phase.