If you are experiencing low back pain, a thorough medical history and physical exam can usually identify any dangerous conditions or family history that may be associated with the pain. For your doctor visit be prepared to describe:
• The onset of pain
• The site of pain
• The severity of the pain
• The duration of symptoms
• Any limitations in movement
• History of previous episodes
• Health conditions that might be related to the pain
You can expect the physician to:
• Examine the back
• Conduct neurologic tests to determine the cause of pain and provide appropriate treatment
• Blood tests may also be ordered
• Imaging tests may be necessary to diagnose tumors or other possible sources of the pain
Type of diagnostic methods available to confirm the cause of low back pain includes:
• X-ray imaging that includes conventional and enhanced methods to help diagnose the cause and site of back pain
• Conventional x-ray: often the first imaging technique used, looks for broken bones or an injured vertebra, it is fast, noninvasive and painless usually performed in a doctor’s office or at a clinic
• Discography: injection of a special contrast dye into a spinal disc thought to be causing low back pain, procedure often suggested for patients who are considering lumbar surgery or whose pain has not responded to conventional treatments
• Myelograms: enhance the diagnostic imaging of an x-ray, the contrast dye is injected into the spinal canal, allowing spinal cord and nerve compression caused by herniated discs or fractures to be seen on x-ray
• Computerized tomography: quick and painless, used with disc rupture, spinal stenosis or damage to vertebrae is suspected as cause of low back pain, generally performed at an imaging center or hospital
• Magnetic resonance imaging: used to evaluate the lumbar region for bone degeneration or injury or disease in tissues and nerves, muscles, ligaments, and blood vessels, noninvasive procedure often used to identify a condition requiring prompt surgical treatment
• Electrodiagnostic procedures: include electromyography (EMG), nerve conduction studies, and evoked potential studies.
• Bone scans: used to diagnose and monitor infection, fracture, or disorders in the bone
• Thermography: use of infrared sensing devices to measure small temperature changes between the two sides of the body or the temperature of a specific organ, also used to detect presence or absence of nerve root compression
• Ultrasound imaging: ultrasound scanning or sonography, uses high-frequency sound waves to obtain images inside the body, can show tears in ligaments, muscles, tendons, and other soft tissue masses in the back.
By Connie Limon
All rights reserved. Any reproducing of this article must have the author name and all the links intact.
