Back pain, neck pain, shoulder pain across various points of the body may not be as trivial as it seems. Especially for patients who prefer self-medicating or getting massages. Ultimately, if the pain becomes chronic and severe, treatment might end with surgery, whereas in reality, there are several more steps in the treatment process that meet international standards.
Identifying the Origin of the Pain
In Thailand, patients often come to the hospital when their condition is quite severe. Whenever back pain disrupts daily routines, such as being unable to sit at a desk for hours and having to stand up and stretch after just 30 minutes, patients might take painkillers which could offer temporary relief as most issues arise from muscle problems. However, if the pain is deeper than the muscle layer and involves the nerves, painkillers might not provide relief. Moreover, continuously taking painkillers for a long time can have adverse health effects.
If a patient has chronic back pain and seeks treatment, the doctor must identify the origin of the pain. While taking pain medication can alleviate symptoms, it does not address the cause of the pain, thus, the pain will return. Moreover, describing the nature of the pain varies according to each patient’s definition, like crawling ants, feeling as if being touched by cold ice, or like being stabbed by nails. Doctors must listen and analyze these descriptions for an accurate diagnosis of each patient.
Comprehensive Pain Treatment
Bangkok International Hospital’s Spine Center offers comprehensive treatment by a team of specialized doctors. They identify the cause of the pain through medical history, physical examination, X-rays, or MRI scans, then analyze the information to find pain intervention methods which vary according to the treatment process, such as specific medication, rest, injection of anti-inflammatory drugs at targeted sites guided by X-ray and ultrasound, or destroying nerve fibers causing pain with high-frequency radio waves. Each step of the treatment depends on the severity of the problem. Since pain is a form of suffering for patients, doctors need to identify and address the specific cause possibly avoiding the need for traditional surgery.
Previously, if treatments did not address the pain levels accurately, patients’ conditions would recur, possibly due to unchangeable lifestyles or aging. The final step is surgery, and due to advancements in medical technology not available in the past, some patients might not have been fully cured, suffering both physically and psychologically over time. To address this issue, Bangkok International Hospital’s Spine Center has committed to international standards of back pain treatment from JCI USA, emphasizing finding the real cause of pain through Pain Intervention, identifying the problematic nerve, and then starting treatment, allowing surgeons to operate with precision and avoid unnecessary surgeries.
Even if surgery is eventually necessary, the outcomes are much more satisfactory with the use of modern spinal surgery tools like a Microscope with high magnification for clearer details of nerves and pathologies to be corrected. They also use a Stealth Navigation System for accurate positioning during surgery, and Intraoperative Monitoring (IONM) to alert doctors if a nerve is touched during surgery, making the surgery more effective. Using specific surgical techniques and technology, surgeries require smaller incisions, shorter operation times, less blood loss, and thus, shorter recovery times.
The collaboration of specialists in each field helps make diagnoses more specific, giving spine patients more treatment options according to their condition severity. If the treatment is not targeting the correct issue or if surgery is done too early or too late, the pain will not subside, and additional harm might be caused. A radiograph alone may not be sufficient; thus, Pain Intervention plays a crucial role in aiding diagnosis. Furthermore, after surgery that involves spinal fusion, patients may not move as freely as before. Pain Interventionists are always mindful that patients seek treatment due to pain and inability to perform daily routines. Once they’ve undergone surgery, a Pain Interventionist’s main task is to help patients return to their normal lives as quickly as possible.
Doctors have the responsibility to alleviate the suffering of patients. If they can collaborate with specialists from other fields to help patients return to their normal lives faster by providing accurate, cause-specific treatments following a step-by-step process, patients will also receive better treatment.
