Neck pain, back pain, and sciatica are generally defined as an unpleasant sensory and emotional experience associated with actual or potential tissue damage. Significantly, his is also the general definition of bread. Pain can also be described in terms of the actual damage itself. Neck pain, back pain, and sciatica can be described in many ways, from mild to severe, acute to chronic, and are generally considered a protective mechanism. Pain is generally understood as a warning that something is wrong, prompting the individual to take action, either by instituting a self-treatment plan or by seeking medical advice. Any type of pain is very subjective and greatly influenced by a myriad of external factors. While many studies have been done to try to better understand the condition, due to its highly individualized nature, it is still difficult to define. In this article, we will attempt to examine back treatment strategies intended to relieve or eliminate neck pain, back pain, and/or sciatica. We will also discuss why each of these four back treatment programs have a high failure rate or fail completely, in any real sense.

The first treatment strategy for neck pain, back pain and/or sciatica is the use of medication. The use of medications, including anti-inflammatories and narcotics, has been shown to have only limited benefit, at best. While medication use is both a cultural and an individual phenomenon, the use of medications such as ibuprofen, naproxen sodium, and even aspirin for pain relief is widespread. Unfortunately, the use of narcotics to treat pain has reached epidemic proportions, even though narcotics have been shown to be minimally effective. In fact, narcotics can actually contribute to pain levels with long-term use and abuse. Ultimately, over-the-counter medications and narcotics only serve to mask the symptoms and do nothing to treat the cause of the pain. As a result, medication in any form is at best a stopgap measure and should be treated as such.

The next pain management strategy that has been shown to be minimally effective, at least in the early stages, is chiropractic care. While chiropractic methodology has been shown to be quite effective in some cases and effectively treats alignment issues, it does not address the reasons for misalignment. So a patient can end up visiting their chiropractor for years without treating the underlying issues involved, the ultimate cause of the pain. Unless a patient with neck pain, back pain, and/or sciatica addresses whatever is causing the misalignment, he is doomed to years of what is known as chiropractic tug-of-war. Clearly, chiropractic care itself deals only with the symptom(s) and not the underlying cause.

Thirdly, when it comes to what I call the “bad back pain complex”, many people are taken to the nearest physical therapy center. Visiting a physical therapy center, one is immediately struck by the fact that everyone seems to be involved in the same repetitive and minimally effective exercises and routines. This kind of standard approach, this well-choreographed “dance of the near dead,” does nothing to effectively treat the individualized nature of pain expressed by neck pain, back pain, and/or sciatica. It is clear that this type of treatment is, once again, nothing more than a band-aid solution, which masks, or rather attempts to mask, the symptom(s) without addressing the underlying cause.

Finally, we enter the realm of the orthopedic surgeon. The bad back gods! Lowercase G! It is this neck pain, back pain and/or sciatica treatment strategy that offers to effectively treat the actual cause of the pain. Unfortunately, it can come at a very high cost and substantial risk. As mentioned in a previous article, only 30-35% of all people who have spinal surgery end up pain-free. The number of people who end up with “failed back syndrome” or “failed spine surgery” or just plain “failed back” is staggering. Once Pandora’s Box is opened, it can never be closed again and the risk of failure is extremely high. The decision to have surgery should not be taken lightly and all other alternatives should be explored before succumbing to the surgeon’s knife. In all but the most extreme circumstances, one must consider the possibility of never being the same again once the final course is taken and surgery is initiated.

So what does this leave? That is the question that every patient with neck pain, back pain, and/or sciatica should ask themselves before following any of the treatment strategies mentioned above. Ultimately, the decision is individual and personal, but there are alternatives to the strategies mentioned above. The single most effective way to deal with the “bad back pain complex” is through a program designed to stretch and strengthen the musculature responsible for supporting the spine, pelvis, and entire core area. Only through an individualized, medically supervised stretching and strengthening program can anything approaching a pain-free lifestyle be achieved. By implementing and following such a program, you can, in a relatively short time, relieve or eliminate your neck pain, back pain, and/or sciatica once and for all.