NECK AND BACK PAIN. TREATMENT AND THERAPY OPTIONS

By  Dr Raymond Hall, DC

After a long search of what is causing your neck or back pain or fragmented sleep (and I presume being a reader and research oriented person), you are probably looking for the best, most effective and fastest treatment to solve your issue.  You have probably read numerous articles about what a pinched nerve in your neck or back feels like,
discovered what is the difference between nerve, muscle and joint pain, and found out why some people have localized pain and others have pain which radiates into their arms and hands or legs. You have probably also run into the terms spinal stenosis, facet compression, spondylosis and degenerative arthritis all which I have writen extensively about and are published in other literature. Hopefully, you are narrowing your treatment options down at this point and might find a summary refreshing:

Discussion of Treatment and Therapy Options:
After 32 years in practice and seeing over 10,000 patients,  I have seen almost everything from simple periodic neck or back stiffness to constant severe pain in the neck or back with the dreaded severe weakness in the arms, shoulder, hands, wrist or legs/feet.

#1 Suggestion: For the treatment of most back and neck pain conditions that generally include conditions such as disc compression syndromes, protruding discs, central and foraminal stenosis, and general spondylosis, the first thing I’ll do is recommend a great pillow, PILLO1 and a great mattress, JUST SLEEP, to support their neck and back, provide gentle pressure point relief, and cradle the head and support the back while a person sleeps. This can be accomplished with spending only 64 cents per night.  (I’ll explain in last paragraph.) I have also found in my chiropractic offices that traction, gentle non-force mobilization, effleurage, trigger point therapy, stretching and micro or interferential current with heat or ice generally works well in about 90% of most cases. Of course, to evaluate the condition, I will usually perform x-rays, do a myriad of orthopedic and neurological tests, palpate and evaluate the muscles, joints and ligaments.  I would highly suggest that a person with neck and/or back pain find a very competent physical medicine physician such as great chiropractor to confirm your diagnosis and perform the best treatment possible. Usually, if the treatment is in line with the diagnosis and the condition not a surgical case, a person will begin to see 30-50% of improvement within the first 10 to 14 days or 3-4 treatments. If this level of improvement is not seen, oftentimes I will recommend an MRI to further evaluate, rule out more serious disorders and ascertain the exact level and severity of the disc pathology or stenotic compromise.

Over the past three decades, I have been a part of multidisciplinary practices that have included physical
therapy, acupuncture, chiropractic, nutrition, primary medicine and orthopedic surgery. I have referred
a number of patients for surgery that surprisingly sometime reach costs well over $100,000. Pain
management specialists are also available for epidurals -that sometimes cost over a thousand dollars
per shot. Then of course conservative management including chiropractic, acupuncture, physical
therapy all typically costing between at least $80 to $160.00 per visit and although generally very
effective, can add up in cost over time as well.

An OUNCE of PREVENTION is worth a POUND of CURE!
Compare the costs of the treatment of neck or back pain to the cost of prevention and home healing
while you sleep. The purchase of the best doctor designed pillow in the world that you can have sent (free of charge) to your home for under $139 and an amazing supportive and comfortable queen or king sized bed between $1400 to $1900 and some that start as low as $799.  I have personally designed a collection of mattresses called JUST SLEEP beds for people looking for better sleep, less pain and improved health.

On average, spine surgery and ancillary associated costs for the cervical and lumbar spine is around $105,000 to $130,000 respectively. The average time a patient is seen for neck or back pain in a chiropractic or physical therapy office is about 3 to 6 weeks and most treat about 3X per week. This would range between $900 and $1800. If you can prevent your neck or back from being hurt, restore and rejuvenate your spinal health while you sleep
and optimize your own comfort and improve your sleep, a $139 pillow and a $1499 mattress makes more than perfect sense.  It can be just what the “doctor ordered” and perhaps in the long run save you a ton of money and pain!! A state of the art mattress and pillow, the “Perfect Sleep Solution” can be used for about 7 years (typical lifetime of a mattress) and 3 year average life for a pillow will only average you a total of 64 cents a night. Order your PILLO1 and JUST SLEEP mattress today!!  It’s definitely worth your investment in your health!  Remember, “An OUNCE of PREVENTION is worth a POUND of CURE”.

If you have any comments or questions in regard to the information in this three-part series on sleep
and health, please don’t hesitate to contact me at [email protected].

JUSTSLEEPbeds.com
PILLO1.com