In today’s hectic life, most people experience back pain at some or the other point of time. In most of the cases, back pain goes away on its own in about a month’s time with proper medication, adequate amount of rest and simple exercises.
Treatment Of Back Pain
For initial treatment of back pain, home care is recommended. Applying hot and cold water on the pain affected area is advised along with complete bed rest or decreased movements and physical activities.
For pain relief, some OTC medications can be used. These medications can decrease back pain and also reduce muscle spasms to a great extent. Whether it is over the counter medications or prescription drugs, it is always recommended to consult your doctor when it comes to continual use. Even acetaminophen, if taken in very high doses, can cause liver damage. It is always better to consult the physician before taking it. To reduce the risk of allergies or side effects from different drug interactions, it is necessary to inform your doctor about all your medications and their exact dosage.
Depending upon your symptoms, medical history and the duration of pain, your doctor may recommend different medicines. Generally for treating back pain, the most common medications that are recommended are Acetaminophen, NSAIDs (Nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs), muscle relaxants, antidepressants. Below mentioned are brief explanations of each of them:
• Acetaminophen or Tylenol is the most commonly used pain relief medicine in the market. It gives you short term relief from mild to moderate back pain. This medication reduces the amount of the brain chemical that excites the pain signals. However, long term use or excess dosage can have potential side effects such as kidney damage or gastric irritation.
• NSAIDs (Nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs) form the basis for the treatment of back pain. There are many NSAIDs available in the market, namely ibuprofen, ketoprofen, naproxen etc. These drugs not only reduce back pain, but also treat the inflammation that causes the pain. There is no right NSAIDs for your back pain – your doctor may try switching from one drug to another to find the one that works best for you.
• A wide variety of muscle relaxants are easily available in the market. But these are hardly effective in treating muscle spasms. They are totally ineffective as compared to NSAIDs. Also, there are no additional benefits of using muscle relaxants in combination with NSAIDs. Muscle relaxants may cause drowsiness in some cases. These are thus not normally recommended.
Apart from these commonly prescribed medicines, there are some experimental treatments that are given to patients with back pain problems. This includes anticonvulsants and Botox injections. However, there is no strong evidence that these medications help.
When you take treatment decisions for back pain, always keep in mind that medications that work best for some people may not work well for others. Let your doctor decide if the medicines that you are taking are effective in treating back pain or not. Take your back pain seriously and do not take OTC drugs too often as they may do more harm than good to your body.