Whenever we suffer an injury, we hope that things will start to feel better with a little rest and targeted conservative care. Unfortunately, that doesn’t always happen, and sometimes our spine pain actually gets worse despite our best efforts. In today’s blog, we explain what’s happening if your back pain is getting worse, and more importantly, what you should do if your spine injury is getting more painful.
Why Does Back Pain Get Worse?
Back pain can get worse for a number of different reasons, so we can’t sit here and say for certain why yours is getting worse. That said, there are typically a few different reasons or actions that contribute to worsening back pain. Those include:
- A continuation of normal physical activities in spite of spine pain
- Ramping up activity too swiftly during your recovery period
- The development of an infection
- Subsequent injury to the same area
In other words, if you keep doing the same activities that led to the original injury, or you keep trying to push through the pain in spite of what your body is telling you, then it’s absolutely possible for your back pain to get worse instead of better. So what should you do if your back pain is getting more serious?
Treating Worsening Back Pain
Treatment will vary depending on your underlying cause of pain, but in general, you’ll want to follow a few of the same steps until you understand how to best manage your pain. For starters, stop performing physically demanding tasks and give your body some much needed rest. Take time off from work or sit out of soccer practice, because it’s just not worth it to make your injury worse.
Next, you’ll want to pick up the phone and get in contact with a spine specialist in your area. If you’re in the greater Twin Cities area, please consider Dr. Sinicropi and the team at the Midwest Spine & Brain Institute. Your spine specialist will begin by asking about your symptoms, having you perform a few movements and then confirming their suspicions with the help of an imaging test. Your doctor may also order an X-ray, MRI, CT scan or similar test to help figure out what’s causing your worsening pain and the specific location of injury.
From there, treatment will follow the recommendations of your provider. In many cases, back pain resolves with a careful course of conservative care, so you can expect to pursue a few weeks of non-surgical techniques, including rest, physical therapy, hot/cold therapy, anti-inflammatory medications, gentle exercise or stretching, stress reduction, dietary improvements and weight loss.
In the rare instances in which conservative care doesn’t alleviate your pain, Dr. Sinicropi and his team can go over your hands-on options, which includes treatments like corticosteroid injections or a minimally invasive surgical operation. Whatever you need, Dr. Sinicropi and his team will be with you every step of the way to ensure you get the care you deserve.
So if you’d like to put an end to your worsening back pain, give Dr. Sinicropi and the team at Midwest Spine & Brain Institute a call today at (651) 430-3800.
