You do the math…
The newest Reader’s Digest just arrived in my mail yesterday, and on the front page, in very bold lettering, is: “BACK PAIN NEW CURES”
I already saw it coming.
If it were new conservative cures, we might have a usable story. As it is, they report on the following:
“New Neurostimulator.”
The “pain pacemaker” is a device that is surgically implanted in to the delicate nerve tissue of the spinal cord. The problem, of course, is that it is a surgical procedure, but more importantly, it is a treatment to only mask the symptoms. I do like the fact that it allows a better quality of life, but this should be used as a later resort after conservative care, but before more invasive surgeries.
“Infrared Belt”
This belt has infrared lamps to provide a constant stimulation of the low back (lumbar) region. Now, this is a great idea in that it will provide pain relief along with improving circulation to the area and stimulate the cellular metabolic machinery. With our decompression patients in Santa Rosa, we have had great results with lumbar belts with an attached ice pack and a built in stabilizing pump. It would be interesting if this $2,335 device would provide better pain relief than our belts. One could argue that heating up the included gel pack in our belts could provide similar results as this one, but only temporarily.
“The Magic Spine Wand”
“In the past, treating disk-related pain involved physical therapy or epidural steroid injections to reduce inflammation.” My comment: chiropractic care is better than the two. Chiropractors have been treating discs for a century, and we are the musculoskeletal experts. You see, along with spinal adjustments, chiropractic care also combines the best of physical therapy modalities for the best outcomes. Reader’s Digest then goes on to acknowledge that invasive surgery has the risk of infection and no guarantee of a cure.
But, here they go talking about another invasive procedure to decompress the lumbar disc. This is better than spine fusion, of course, but it is still invasive and damaging. Every time you cut into the area, scar tissue builds in the soft tissue surrounding the joints. And every time you cut you can’t go back. You can’t undo it. The procedure they are talking about involves slicing out part of the disc material.
“Flexible Fusion”
Well, I guess it’s better than regular fusion. This is an extremely invasive procedure that is reserved for the very last resort. Even worse than above.
“Stem Cells to the Rescue”
They remark, “Many therapies for degenerative disks treat only the symptoms, noteh cause of the back pain.” Finally some low back wisdom. But is injecting the disc with stem cells and collagen getting to the cause of the problem? Or is it patching it up? I guess it’s better than “flexible fusion” But keep in mind that the disc isn’t always the problem in low back pain, and while therapeutic trials are sometimes necessary to figure out the true cause, getting this done may not be worth the risks.
“Grow a New Backbone”
This is a drug that is designed to increase bone mass exactly where it is needed while not affecting the rest of the body as other drugs do. How do they do that? However they do it, this is only for those where osteoporosis is at such a stage that there are microfractures occurring. When bones are their most frail.
“It’s All in Your Bed”
Apparently you need to buy a new mattress a few times in your lifetime. A university based study followed a group of people with aches and pains and compared sleeping on an old mattress with sleeping on a new mattress. Those who had the new mattress showed improvement in their condition while others did not. The more pain the subjects had, the more they improved.