Category health How Back Pain Specialists Diagnose Back Pain?

Back pain is a common health condition that can influence any age group at some point in life. If pain persists for long days or weeks, it’s essential to make an appointment with a back pain specialists to get a proper diagnosis and an effective treatment plan for curing back pain. But, in this piece of content, we will discuss how healthcare experts diagnose back pain.

Diagnosis of Back Pain

Back pain doctor identify the possible cause of back pain using various tools, physical examinations, and imaging tests. These tests help diagnose the common cause of back pain and make it easier for doctors to determine the best treatment plan.

Medical and Family History

The first and essential step in diagnosing back pain, your healthcare expert may ask questions regarding your medical and family history, which includes:-

• How does the pain start?
• Can you give ratings to your pain on a scale from 1 to 10 to determine the severity of the back pain?
• How persistent you’re experiencing the back pain?
• What is the exact location of your back pain?
• Are there any specific positions or activities that make your pain worse?
• Have any specific injuries or accidents you have gone through over the past months?
• When you have first noticed your pain and what were you doing at that time
• Do you or your family have a history of any chronic pain or other health conditions?

Answering these questions will help healthcare experts to get a basic understanding of back pain and its relevant causes.

Physical Exam

After the general discussion about you and your family history/ medical history, your back pain specialists woodland may perform a physical examination manually:-

• Ask you to move and walk in different positions to identify the major reason for back pain.
• Examine your back carefully to determine the painful area
• Ask you to elevate, lift, or bend your legs to make movements affecting your back pain.
• Review your muscle strength, sensation, and reflexes to cross-check how strong they are.

Imaging Tests

Many people don’t need any additional testing such as X-rays or any blood test, but for the safe side, some experts suggest you perform some tests to identify the main reason for causing back pain.

• X-rays capture detailed images of your spine’s fractured bones and help experts identify abnormalities.
• Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI) gives you detailed images of your soft tissues, such as discs, nerves and muscles.
• A computerized tomography (CT) scan offers cross-sectional spine images and can determine bone health and certain soft tissue conditions.

Blood Tests

Blood tests are not required for chronic back pain but are sometimes recommended by experts to identify specific medical conditions like inflammatory disorders or infections.

Nerve Tests

Your healthcare provider may suggest nerve studies, such as electromyography (EMG) or nerve conduction studies, to evaluate the function of your muscles and nerves if they suspect nerve-related issues.

If you don’t get relief from back pain treatment, your healthcare professional asks you to consult a specialist, orthopedic surgeon, pain management specialist, and neurologist for further diagnosis.

Wrapping It Up

Diagnosing back pain is a blend of past medical conditions, family history, physical examination, imaging, or blood test if required. All these different types of examination help the specialist to determine the main cause and the right line of back pain treatment nj.