Back Pain and Pain Relief options by Tamworth Osteopath

Back Pain will affect most of us within our lifetime, if you have never suffered from a backache or back pain then you have something unpleasant you will probably experience in years to come.

Back pain will present in different forms which will vary in intensity and duration and will in many cases stop you from performing your daily duties, resulting in time lost from work. It is estimated that millions of pounds are lost in the UK every year due to sickness from low back pain.

One would think that such a huge problem would have been addressed and catered for within the NHS framework but sadly this appears not to be the case. If you ask anyone who has suffered from back pain to tell their story of the help received from the NHS you will soon realise that as a national health service they are not meeting patients needs.

The traditional route to follow on the NHS would be a visit to your local GP and explain your symptoms of back pain. Most of the time your GP will have little (if any) allocated time to examine you and begin by prescribing pain killing medication. You will leave the surgery with a prescription for drugs which should ease your symptoms but usually without a diagnosis of your condition. This is failing to meet customer expectations 1

If your condition does not resolve itself and you visit your GP on several further occasions you may be given stronger doses of medication to ease your pain. The next stage would usually involve a referral for physiotherapy. For this you are put on a waiting list to see your physiotherapist which can be up to a 12 week waiting list.

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When you eventually get to see a NHS physiotherapist the treatment you receive tends to be devised around self management and patients often receive very little hands on treatment. They usually walk away with a list of exercises to perform and are allocated about 6 visits which is just no more than a few questions of progress made if any and further exercise advice. This is failing to meet customer expectation 3

After the allocated 6 physiotherapy visits if you have not shown improvement you are referred back to your GP who then has to decide if you should need a scan or referral to a consultant. As GP´s generally have no authority to refer you for a routine scan then you have to see a consultant. This is yet another waiting list.

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Up to now you may have been in pain for months and still nobody has volunteered an accurate diagnosis of your condition. This is failing to meet customer expectations 5

Following your wait to see the consultant you finally get your appointment to see someone who is going to finally diagnose your problem and solve it for you.

Maybe that is correct but not for some! Remember consultants are generally surgeons and as such have been trained to operate on musculo-skeletal conditions as a means of resolving back pain. If surgery is not indicated then injections of steroids might be suggested. Spinal epidurals and facet joint injections are often used to treat low back pain. Spinal surgery is suggested for many and sadly the success rate is far from 100%

Many patients leave surgery hoping for a total recovery but for some the pain returns and in some cases they can be worse.

The sad thing is that when patients arrive at the door of the consultant they often feel that this is the last resort and whatever the surgeon recommends is the best option for them.

In defence of the consultant, he will be aware that the patient has been administered medication for pain relief and has been given physiotherapy, so to him, he is the final option which is injections or surgery.

What if the previous process was inadequate and given early intervention the patient was given an early diagnosis and effective treatment. We could save millions of pounds and meet customer expectations if the process could be changed. Wouldn´t it be great if you arrived at the GP´s door and got to see someone who knew about back pain and had the time to examine you properly. At the moment this does not happen and so many of us have to look elsewhere.

Private Pain Relief Clinics

Private pain relief clinics vary and may be listed under osteopaths, physiotherapists, chiropractors or acupuncture clinics. Sports injury clinics also deal with pain and may have back specialists in attendance.

You do not require a GP referral in order to attend a private clinic unless you are required to do so by your private healthcare insurance. Most clinics will have short waiting lists and will see you within a few days. The choice of clinic depends on what you want and good advice would be try and get a personal recommendation from someone you trust.

If you can get a selection of the above clinics in your area to offer you a free consultation then go along and compare the diagnosis on offer, the treatment plan proposed and the cost involved.

If osteopaths, physiotherapists, chiropractors and acupuncture practitioners agree on a diagnosis then you can feel confident that they have highlighted your problem. The treatment options will vary as will the cost so you have to decide which you prefer.

In reality it is highly unlikely that the different professions will agree on a diagnosis so here begins the problem. Who do you believe and why do diagnostics vary so much?

What a variety of diagnostics indicate is, that different back pain practitioners have a different view of your particular condition. This is important because if you select 4 practitioners and nobody agrees, then some of them will be wrong in the diagnosis of your problem. So who has the correct solution? In many cases an MRI Scan can determine the cause of your back pain and may save you a lot of wasted money in unwanted treatments. A scan can be arranged for around £250 and can normally be turned round in 7 days. Any established practitioner should be able to arrange a private scan for you without a GP referral.

Armed with the MRI scan results you have now got your diagnosis and freedom to instruct a practitioner who may have accurately diagnosed your condition beforehand.

A note to remember is that not all private clinics offer a better service than your local NHS facility. Clinics are only as good as the practitioners who work there and some are better than others so please check them out before committing yourself. Ask for a free consultation from all your local clinics and then compare.

One clinic with award winning practitioners is the Tamworth and Birmingham based Atlas Back Pain Relief Centre who have clinics in Tamworth Staffordshire and Hall Green, Solihull, Birmingham. You can visit their website www.atlaspainrelief.com and get a free consultation with one of their osteopaths, physiotherapists, acupuncturists and podiatrist. They have a vast experience in treating back pain and spinal disorders and offer excellent value for money.