Spine pain can be extremely costly, and not just in a financial way. Sure, the cost of appointments and treatment can affect you financially, but spine pain can affect you in a number of other ways as well. In today’s blog, we take a closer look at the full cost of spine pain on an individual.
How Costly Is Spine Pain?
Here’s a look at all the ways spine pain can become a burden in your life.
- Financially – As we mentioned in the intro, when we talk about the total cost of spine pain, our minds typically jump first to financial cost. Appointments, physical therapy sessions, medications, surgeries, imaging tests and consultations all will add up. Insurance can help to offset some of the costs, but odds are you’ll still have to foot a portion of the bill, and medical expenses can add up in a hurry. And while medical expenses can put you in a financial bind, there is at least a clear way of working to address this burden, and that’s by paying off your bills. Most medical centers will offer a payment plan so that you can pay things off at your own pace, which can provide some much-needed flexibility.
- Emotionally – Back pain can also be significantly costly to your mental and emotional health. Spine pain can oftentimes be more than just physically painful, it can also be mentally and emotionally exhausting. Your inability to partake in certain activities or just get through the day without pain can have negative effects for your emotional health, which is why back pain typically requires a multi-dimensional approach to account for all the ways it’s impacting your life. As we’ve written about on the blog in the past, chronic back pain has been tied to higher rates of depression, which is why it’s so important to monitor your mental and emotional health as you treat your condition.
- Socially – Back pain can also push us away from those we love and need the most. Sometimes people with back pain opt not to partake in activities or events because they fear that their pain will be a burden for others. Other times they want to join, but they physically can’t do what’s being asked of them, so they end up withdrawing socially. Isolation or social withdrawal driven by back pain can affect your mental and emotional health, and it can make treating your physical pain that much harder to do. Sync up with a spine specialist who understands the full scope of your pain and can provide a comprehensive treatment plan to care for all aspects of your health and ensure all your needs are met.
As you can see, the true cost of spine pain is much more than a dollar sign. Back pain can be burdensome in many ways, which is why you owe it to yourself to connect with an expert who can use their knowledge to help get you the treatment you deserve. A spine specialist can help reduce all three of the costs listed above and get you back on the path to full health. To learn how Dr. Sinicropi has done this for countless patients in the past and can do the same for you, reach out to his office today.
