Holistic Pain Management for Spinal Injuries

It’s tempting to treat illnesses and injuries in a compartmentalized, almost quick-fix fashion. In pain? Infected? Out comes the prescription pad for pain medication or antibiotics. Injured? Surgery.

At Polaris, we try to take a different approach with holistic pain management for spinal injuries. Rather than instantly prescribing narcotics or recommending surgeries, our team works to prepare an individual rehabilitation plan for each patient that places drugs and surgery in the only-if-needed category.

Why a Holistic Approach?

When you injure your back or begin experiencing the painful effects of degenerative disc disease, your back is not the only part of you that is affected. The spine provides support to the core of your body, and those nerves touch every region of the body all the way down to your fingers and toes. Back pain begins affecting your overall ability to move, and your body attempts to compensate, resulting in aching and stiffness in other areas. Back pain can deeply affect your psyche and emotional state, as well. The effects are wide-reaching.

By definition, a holistic approach doesn’t mean medicine or surgery aren’t options. It simply means we treat the whole person, not just the immediate injured area. We treat your spine holistically because we understand the many ways in which your spinal health touches your overall well-being. By the same token, a multi-faceted approach to your healing also means when we take care of the whole person, your spine no longer fights for healing on its own. Your body is better able to heal itself.

What Does Holistic Pain Management Look Like?

When we practice holistic pain management for spinal injuries, we evaluate the overall condition of our patient and create an individualized plan that addresses the injury from multiple directions, giving preference to non-narcotic and non-surgical methods. Various facets of this wellness plan might include:

• Physical therapy: To strengthen muscle groups related to the spine and strategically rehabilitate damaged areas
• Aquatic therapy: A soothing, low-impact way to improve movement and flexibility
• Massage therapy: To ease tension and reduce inflammation throughout the body
• Acupuncture: To improve circulation and relieve tension
• At-home exercise regimen: To supplement in-office therapies with activities that reinforce movement and flexibility
• Pain relieving injection therapies: Epidural and facet injections can calm nerves and reduce inflammation, giving your body a chance to rest and heal
• Regenerative injection therapies: Utilizing state-of-the-art techniques like platelet-rich-plasma therapy and stem cell therapy help focus the body’s own mending processes to accelerate healing without drugs or surgery

We don’t shy away from prescription drugs or surgery when these approaches are called for — we simply don’t turn to them by default. A non-invasive approach that enables the body to heal itself is always the best course of action when possible. To learn more about our holistic approach to pain management and what it might look like for you, call Polaris Spine & Neurosurgery Center today at 404-256-2633.