Create a plan for your back pain

In this issue: Create a plan to relieve your back pain. Get your copy of Low Back Pain: Healing your aching back. View this email as a Web page » To ensure delivery of our emails, add healthbeat@mail.health.harvard.edu to your address book. Please note this is for outgoing mail only. If you need help, please contact healthbeat@health.harvard.edu. Share with a friend » | Unsubscribe »

June 29, 2013

Create a plan to relieve your back pain More information Get your copy of Low Back Pain: Healing your aching back Treatment of low back pain has undergone a recent sea change. Experts now appreciate the central role of exercise to build muscles that support the back. This Special Health Report, Low Back Pain: Healing your aching back, helps you understand why back pain occurs and which treatments are most likely to help. This report describes the different types of back problems and the tailored treatments that are more likely to help specific conditions. Click here to read more » If you suffer from back pain, you've probably tried one or two ways to ease it. The range of options — from doing nothing at all to having surgery — is quite large. But the abundance of choices also presents a challenge. How do you know which therapy is right for you? Before you decide on a course of treatment, keep these four things in mind. Identifying the type of back disorder you suffer from is the first — and most important — step in finding how best to treat it. Although options abound, not all are appropriate for your specific back problem. Whether you’re experiencing back pain for the first time or you’ve suffered a relapse, seek the advice of an experienced, certified, and well-recommended health specialist. That might be an internist, family practitioner, orthopedist, rheumatologist, neurologist, neurosurgeon, or physiatrist. Be an active participant in your care. Learn as much as you can about the risks and benefits of the treatments you are considering. Be clear on your treatment goals. Perhaps you don’t intend to hike up a mountain, but you do want to go on that long-awaited trip and enjoy the view of the Eiffel Tower. Don’t be afraid to question advice. If a health professional recommends an invasive, experimental, or expensive treatment, consider seeking a second opinion from a physician who frequently deals with your specific condition. How you decide to manage your back pain will ultimately depend on many things. Taking all these factors into account will help you and your physician determine which of the available options are right for you. For more on healing your aching back, buy Low Back Pain, a Special Health Report from Harvard Medical School. Share this story: Digg Facebook Twitter

Featured in this issue Low Back Pain: Healing your aching back Featured content: • Who develops back problems? • Why does your back hurt? • Diagnosing back pain • Assessing your treatment options   ... and more! Click here to read more »

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