There are so many back pain treatments available, making finding the right one a very confusing process indeed. Traditional medical science, as well as alternative healthcare sectors, have developed a huge arsenal of drugs, procedures and techniques to treat the symptoms of common back pain. Most of these treatments produce temporary results, if any positive ones at all. This means that they need to be used long term, in order for their benefits to last. They are not designed to cure, but rather to treat. Every patient must learn and understand the distinction between a cure and a treatment.
This essay helps to explain the objectives of various common approaches to back pain care.
Symptom-Based Back Pain Treatments
If you have already looked at our treating back pain page, you have seen the vast variety of common therapies for back ache. Out of all the possibilities available to treat dorsopathy, only a tiny number are well known to provide the possibility for a true cure. All the rest are basically symptomatic treatments for most patients and conditions.
Symptomatic treatment is 2nd class medicine. It makes life with back pain more livable, but does nothing at all to resolve the actual underlying source problem.
Imagine that your car has an oil leak. You keep adding a quart of oil every week for 2 years. Then the leak gets worse. Now, you have to add a quart of oil every 2 days. Eventually, the leak will require a quart every day. You can keep adding the oil, every day. That is the same as symptomatic treatment for back pain. The alternative is to bring the car to a mechanic and get the leak fixed. Problem solved. This is a real cure.
A Real Cure for Back Pain
A real cure for back pain is a solution to the pain problem. Instead of managing the symptoms of the problem, a true cure will attack and defeat the actual cause of the pain. It should go without saying, but a true cure is always preferred over symptomatic back ache treatments.
In 90% of chronic cases, the only real cures have been back surgery, spinal decompression and the alternative knowledge therapy. All the other options qualify as symptomatic back pain treatments, 98% of the time.
Remember that many back ache conditions will resolve on their own. If this occurs while in treatment of some type, the therapy might enjoy the distinction of providing a cure. However, statistics show that the condition would have resolved even if the patient had never sought out the honored treatment. The benefit of a cure may have been coincidental to the therapy.
Back Surgery and Spinal Decompression Treatment
If the pain is truly coming from a specific and accurately diagnosed anatomical condition, then surgery might be an effective cure for the problem. Modern back surgery has improved light years and can truly perform miracles. However, there is always the risk of surgical complications or a poor result. Even successful surgery is a nightmare to endure. The recovery time is no fun either.
Spinal decompression is a recommended non-surgical option which has shown excellent results for alleviating the symptoms of some forms of structural back pain, including selected arthritic conditions and a host of disc pathologies.
Knowledge Therapy Treatment
Knowledge therapy is not always a true cure. Some people have conditions that actually need a physical treatment. However, knowledge therapy can relieve many back pain conditions all by itself. In the event that knowledge therapy does not cure a condition, it will usually make it far more livable.
No, this technique does not qualify as symptomatic treatment, since the result is to lessen the cause of the pain, not treat the symptoms. It also has no side effects or expense and can be done at home, by the patient.
Am I trying to convince you that knowledge therapy is a cure for your back pain? Yes and no. I would love for you to discover the techniques that helped me be less burdened by my own back pain.
I would love for you to be pain-free. I would love to receive a letter or email from you thanking me for opening your eyes to a previously undiscovered treatment for your back pain. Even with the tens of thousands I have already received, one more is always nice… So, I guess I am trying to share my experience with you. I am not asking you to believe in it, unless it is right for you.
Final Thoughts on the Catalog of Back Pain Treatments
Medicine and alternative healthcare are big business. People practice these arts and sciences to make a living. There is an economic motivation. Back pain treatments are very, very lucrative. The patient is a captive audience, who will listen to whatever treatment advice the care provider will give. There is no such thing as too much money to spend to get rid of back pain. After all, most people have health insurance that will pay, right?
Who pays for health insurance? We all do.
Increased claims = Increased premiums for us or our employers.
There is no free ride.
Back pain costs us all lots of $$$ and makes doctors, therapists and attorneys lots of $$$. That’s the bottom line.
There is an old joke amongst doctors. They say that they will never forgive Dr. Jonas Salk for actually curing polio. The treatment was a great business. Is it really a joke? Is it an uncomfortable truth? You decide for yourself. In the meantime, don’t hold your breath waiting for a universal medical cure for back pain.
