The causes of back pain aren’t always obvious.
Some patients experience back pain as the result of issues in their knees or hips.
It can be easy to assume your pain is from your back alone, but with the help of an orthopedic surgeon and physical therapists, you can locate the source of your pain and heal faster.
While joint problems and back pain might seem completely unrelated, the connection between the two is not all that far-fetched. There are many ways to tell if your back pain is associated with your joints.
Back pain symptoms may include:
While these are common signs, they are not the only ones. If you are experiencing back pain, it's important to get it checked out as soon as possible.
Just because your back hurts doesn't mean that your back is the reason you have this issue. Finding out what is truly causing your pain can help in finding a treatment plan for you.
If your knees are the reason for your back pain, then talking with an orthopedic surgeon is the best first step in your treatment plan. Your orthopedic surgeon will be able to use tests and imaging to determine where your pain is coming from and why.
Once they have determined the source, your treatment plan will be designed on what will work best for you.
It could be that your solution can be found with the help of a physical therapist. Physical therapy can help alleviate your pain through stretching, exercises, and improvements to posture and/or gait.
If your pain in your back or knees goes away with rehabilitation, then additional treatments options most likely will not be needed. If physical therapy does not improve your pain, then your orthopedic surgeon will recommend other options.
Your orthopedic surgeon may use injections in your affected knee to help relieve the pain that is ultimately affecting your pain. Injections can localize in directly on the spot that is causing the pain.
If all non-surgical options are not relieving your pain, then your orthopedic surgeon may recommend surgery. This could be minimally-invasive or, if damage is too severe, a total replacement. Your doctor will take all tests, images, and non-surgical outcomes into account when determining how extensive surgery needs to be.
If your back pain is related to or caused from an issue in your back, then orthopedic options for your knees will not be the best place to start.
Talking to a spine specialist can help determine where your pain is radiating from in your back and if it's a structural issue. While sometimes back pain is just the result of another affected area, a lot of times it is just that—back pain.
Logansport Memorial Hospital offers many options for back pain, whether it be related to your hips and knees or not.
Our orthopedic surgeons can guide you in the right direction with a personalized treatment plan and our physical therapists can work with you to get back to your best, pain-free self.
Don't let back pain slow you down. Call us at 574.753.7541.