Eight Ways to Deal with Back Pain Today

According to the National Institutes of Health, eight out of 10 people will experience back pain at some point in their lives and, of those, millions will lead a diminished quality of life because they neglect to do anything about it.  They'll list a slew of reasons--time, money, inconvenience, fear--for not "dealing" with back pain, over taking the simple steps to get a proper diagnosis.  And while, in some cases, a diagnosis means surgery, more often than not, back pain sufferers are able to improve their spinal alignment and ease pain through other means.

DISC Sports & Spine Center's Dr. Hooman M. Melamed, a local orthopedic spine surgeon who has been featured on The Doctors and Dr. Oz, among other local and national media outlets, wants people to understand that they have options when it comes to their care.

"Far too often, we see patients who are worried sick because they think their only recourse is back surgery requiring years of recovery," said Dr. Melamed.  "That's not the case.  There are numerous methods we can try before we decide that a surgery like spinal fusion is the way to go.  Modern advances means that even if you do need surgery, you can go home the same day.  In a few months, you can be right back to all normal activities."

Read the entire Patch.com article to find out the eight things you can do when dealing with back pain.