Treatments
Since there is, very rarely, a definitive diagnosis for anyone complaining of severe low
back pain, a plethora of therapies are available from practitioners of allopathic,
homeopathic and other complementary medicine streams. Pharmaceutical companies
come up with new pain killers almost every month while medical device manufacturers
are making hay while the sun shines with a vast array of back massage chairs and beds.
The Chinese medical device industry has been quick to latch on to this most common of
all human problems, being amongst the largest producers and sellers of cheap back
massage chairs. Not only this, they also excel in selling vast quantities of neck and
lumbar pillows, acupressure slippers and massage oils and creams. Furniture sellers are
not far behind in this lucrative business game. Everyone is now making ergonomic
chairs regardless of whether or not they know what it means. Water beds, foam beds
and coir beds are fighting for customers, each one proclaiming that it is the best remedy
for low back pain. Massage parlours, body spas, yoga centres and holistic treatment
clinics are having a field day and there are plenty of customers for everyone.
Orthopedic surgeons have not lagged behind in this rush to make money. There is a five
fold difference in the rates of back surgery in the developed as compared to developing
countries. From straightforward open back surgery we have now progressed to keyhole
surgery and artificial discs to replace damaged discs (Don’t panic! We will learn in the
next chapter as to what a disc is). Surgeons are into plastic surgery to replace broken
spinal bones and a huge variety of injections to the spine to reduce pain. Anyone with
the slightest hint of the spine being off curve is put under the knife.
Personally, I used to dread going to an orthopod (short form for orthopedic surgeon).
The number of times I was told that I need an operation is equal to the number of times
I have walked out of the consulting room vowing never to go back in again. My spinal X-
rays and scans indicate that I have a slipped disc in my lower spine and an abnormal
curvature of the spine to one side (called scoliosis) and despite the fact that my
symptoms were not severe enough, surgeon after surgeon recommended that surgery
should be done sooner than later. Fifteen years have gone by since my first episode of
back pain. I have had a couple of recurrences but none at all for the past twelve years