Pain is both a physical and emotional experience caused by real or potential injury or damage to the body. It is often best described as a complex three-way warning system. First, acute pain warns of injury. Second, pain warns against further injury by causing the body's movements to withdraw from the source of injury. Finally, a pain warning leads to a period of reduced activity, enabling injuries to heal more efficiently.

Pain is often difficult to measure because the severity of the pain does not always reflect the severity of the injury. Some people feel extreme pain from relatively small injuries, while others show little or no pain even after suffering a severe injury. Pain can also be present even though no injury is apparent, or pain can linger long after an injury appears to have healed.

Communicate with Your Doctor

Since each person perceives pain a little differently, and responds to pain differently, it is essential that you communicate as much about the exact nature of your pain to medical professionals, including the location, quality and intensity of your pain. Include in your communication the mechanics of the pain:
· How did the pain start?
· How long have you had this pain?
· What kinds of activities make the pain better or worse?
· Is it better or worse when you walk, sit, stand, or lie down?

Therapies with Medicine

The complexity of human pain often requires a combination of pain therapies with medicine and without medicine to achieve relief. In addition to the body's own mechanisms, humans have devised many different ways to manipulate the body's ability to control pain. Drugs that relieve pain, known as analgesics, usually interfere with pain impulse transmission in the nervous system. Narcotic analgesics, such as codeine, have chemical structures that are similar to the pain-blocking neuro-transmitter endorphin.

Other drugs that relieve pain alter the way damaged nerves transmit information. Non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs, such as aspirin and ibuprofen, are analgesics that reduce pain by inhibiting the synthesis of prostaglandins, the body chemicals that intensify pain and cause inflammation.

Medications prescribed by a physician may be used alone or in combination with other medications and can be administered in a variety of ways.

When Surgery is Required

When conservative treatments, such as medication or physical therapy, don't help, back surgery may offer relief. But it doesn't help every type of back pain. In fact, back surgery is needed in only a small percentage of cases and is usually reserved for treating chronic pain as when a nerve is pinched, the spinal cord is compressed or there is too much movement between the vertebrae.

Traditionally, back surgery was one of the most grueling and damaging surgical procedures a patient could endure. Now, through the utilization of cutting edge technology, patients can undergo many back and spine operations as outpatient procedures. These alternatives to traditional back surgeries allow for great precision, faster healing, and less damage to healthy tissue.

Traditional open back surgery employs large incisions and can dissect multiple levels of tissue and muscle to view the spine. Modern procedures that are less invasive use a combination of surgical and technological innovations to repair spinal conditions while minimizing the disturbance to surrounding healthy tissue.

An example of modern alternatives to traditional open back and neck surgeries are The Bonati Procedures(sm), an innovative range of advanced spine surgeries developed and perfected by The Bonati Institute(sm). The procedures employ the smallest incision possible to correct problems of the lumbar, cervical and thoracic spine with patented instrumentation and methods. The Bonati Procedures are performed sequentially as outpatient surgeries with the patient under local anesthesia and alert and able to communicate with the surgeon throughout the procedure. The result of this approach is far less trauma to the muscles and tissues, minimal blood loss and faster recovery. The Bonati Procedures are performed only at The Bonati Institute in Hudson, Florida.

Consider all options

Before considering any back surgery, it is important to undertake a considerable amount of research. Back and leg pain can be a complex issue that may possibly require multiple opinions on diagnosis and treatment. It is important to choose these opinions and your spine surgery team wisely.