The exact treatment depends on the cause of the pain, but generally in mild cases you will be advised on:

Lifestyle and posture modifications

• This may include advice on how to perform manual tasks such as lifting loads to minimise spine injury, and also how to optimise your posture when working and sleeping.

Physiotherapy

• For many patients, a programme of supervised physiotherapy will be helpful in alleviating neck/back pain and maintaining proper spine health.
• Treatment will normally begin with measures to relieve pain such as traction and heat therapy, followed by exercise programmes to improve the strength and stamina of spinal muscles.

Medication

• There is no medication that can cure neck and back pain, but medicines can be used to relieve pain, reduce inflammation, decrease spasms and soothe nerve (‘neuropathic’) pain while physiotherapy is progressing.

Surgery is advised when nerve compression is severe and there is a risk of permanent nerve damage, and when symptoms are persistent and disabling despite maximal non-surgical management. There are many types of surgery available for the various causes of spinal disorders, but some of the more common procedures include:

Discectomy for removal of prolapsed (‘slipped’) discs

• In the lower back (lumbar spine), this can also be achieved via minimally invasive surgery which can potentially lead to quicker recovery and a short hospital stay.

Spinal fusion

• In some patients, back pain is due to instability of the spinal column which can be due to degenerative changes in the spine. In such cases, your specialist may advise that the unstable portions of the spine be joined together so as to limit abnormal movements and thus reduce pain.
• Such procedures are currently normally performed with special rods and screws to increase the success rate of the procedure.

Vertebroplasty and kyphoplasty

• In older patients who are suffering from persistently painful osteoporotic fractures of the lower back vertebrae, these relatively simple procedures have proven to be useful in relieving pain and improving mobility.
• In both procedures, a special bone cement is injected into the fractured vertebra to stabilise it, but in kyphoplasty, the fractured vertebra is also expanded using a special balloon device before the cement is injected.

Patients who suffer from chronic back or neck pain and conventional treatments have not been able to achieve the expected result, they can consider minimally invasive surgery.

Ref. S13

Check out other articles on back and spine:

10 Tips for a Healthy Back

What is a Slipped Disc?

What is Sciatica (Lower Back Pain)?

Treatment for Lower Back Pain

Ankylosing Spondylitis (Spine Inflammation): Causes, Symptoms, Treatment

Is Your Neck Pain Caused by 'Text Neck'?

How Nerve Pain Can Cause Chronic Pain