The 4 Back-Muscle Strain Treatments Your Patients Should Know About
A report from the American Chiropractic Association states that back pain is the second most reason for the appointment of doctors in the United States. The pain is mostly as a result of muscle strain rather than conditions such as fractures, arthritis or infections. Back-muscle strain is caused by numerous factors including sports injuries, accidents or overextending of muscles during a daily basic task. Regardless of what causes it, back-muscle strain is painful, and patients always want to know its causes as well as how they can eliminate it while ensuring faster recover.
A patient who has back pain always requires a solution and as a doctor, you need to have these solutions at hand. Fortunately, back-muscle strain can easily be treated at home, although this editorial has 4 options that you can rely on for accelerated healing process.
1. Cold & Compression Therapy
Research points out that therapeutic cold and active compression not only relieve pain caused by muscle strain but also enhance the healing process. At home, a patient can use ice packs and static compression bandages, but the use of a cold therapy system to deliver continuous therapeutic cold and active compression has proven to be more beneficial. Here, all you need to do is to simply fill the ice reservoir, apply the adjustable wrap, and then enter the temperature, duration, and pressure setting as recommended.
2. Pain-Relieving Medication
If a patient comes to you complaining of extreme pain, then the treatment option to prescribe is the pain-relieving medication. That is because this treatment option is beneficial, especially during the first few days of injury. You should be keen though, to taper off the medication as quickly as possible, to help reduce the risk of drug dependence. If a patient does not want to take prescription drugs or if the pain is less severe, then you can recommend a course of over-the-counter NSAIDs, as this too helps relieve pain and swelling.
3. Physical Therapy
Physical therapy can also be beneficial depending on the reason for muscle-back strain. If the patient’s injury is as a result of weak supporting muscles or lack of flexibility, physical therapy like stretching exercises and strengthening moves can be handy. That is because they improve range of motion and increase mobility. Ideally, physical therapists can teach patients with back muscle strain how to achieve correct posture or appropriately perform those movements that can contribute to back-muscle strain.
4. Chiropractic Therapy
Chiropractic therapy involves spinal manipulation, which is carried out by a chiropractor. Well, spinal manipulation also helps relieve back pain, and best of all, it does this with little or no medication. Make sure your patient has a chiropractor and that he/she follows the complete course of treatment, since numerous chiropractic visits are always needed.
If you want to alleviate back pain and recover from back-muscle strain as quickly as possible, it’s advisable to combine any or all of the aforementioned 4 treatment options. You can contact us today for more information about Game Ready cold therapy system and how you can apply it for quick recovery of your patients. Also, you can review such resources as case studies, professional testimonials, and clinical evidence, since it will help you be prepared to answer questions your patients are likely to ask concerning how effective cold therapy and active compression are.