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The Lowdown on Lower Back Pain

By: Ambrose Hutson

If you suffer with nagging lower back pain you may lose valuable hours at work, lie awake through sleepless nights or even struggle with disability. Four out of every five adults in America will experience lower back pain at some point in their lives. If you haven't already struggled with lower back pain, chances are, you will.

Chronic lower back pain often begins as the result of a back injury such as a strained muscle, sprained ligament or herniated disc. One would expect that the pain vanishes when the initial damage has been repaired. Surprisingly, health experts have found that such injuries can sometimes trigger an alteration in nerve cells that transmit signals. The resulting pain or hypersensitivity persists long after the initial trauma has been healed.

When this occurs, the chronic lower back pain transforms into a disease that is much more than a symptom of underlying spinal damage. Hypersensitivity can continue to create bouts of pain, even when there is no havoc that factored the twinge. For this reason, it's important for people who have suffered lower back trauma to maintain an ongoing rehabilitation program, to avoid any future painful episodes.

There is an effective, non-surgical treatment method that may offer relief for those suffering with lower back pain. Percutaneous neuromodulation therapy (PNT) brings relief by applying electrical stimulation to the deep tissues in the posterior portion of the body.

This new procedure for relieving chronic lower back pain has recently received an FDA clearance. It is a minimally invasive procedure that is performed in a regular medical clinic.

To qualify for percutaneous nueromodulation therapy, you must:

* Are you at risk of developing long-term, intractable pain?

* Existing pain should radiate from the lower back into your buttocks, legs and feet.

* Are you free of ample pain-relieving medications (including physical therapy or chiropractic manipulation)?

* Would you like a less insidious approach before resorting into a surgical operation?

When a doctor performs PNT, he or she will utilize several needle electrodes that are designed to reach the nerve pathways that may be impacting the pain. Specialists believe that this kind of charged stimulation helps to restrain the central nervous system that relentlessly ushers in pain.

A typical PNT session lasts for about thirty minutes. Once the patient has become comfortable in a face down position on the examination table, up to ten PNT electrodes are applied to the lower buttock area at specified locations. Each is deployed with a fine-gauge filament electrode to a depth of three centimeters. With the electrodes in place, the doctor is able to adjust the stimulation to a stage that will distribute the most therapeutic benefits to the patient.

If you undergo PNT as a treatment for lower back pain, you must complete three or four sessions before evaluating the effectiveness of the procedure. While some patients experience a certain level of relief after a single PNT session, others require subsequent sessions. No two patients are the same, and the suitable frequency of PNT can vary.

Following your percutaneous nueromodulation therapy, you may find improvements such as increased physical activity, reduced need for pain medication, better quality of sleep, more pain control and lower levels of disability.

If you suffer with lower back pain, you don't have to be a slave to the condition. Effective treatment options are available, including PNT sessions, which can provide the relief you need to get back on your feet.

Article Source: http://www.articlewheel.com

Essayist Ambrose Hutson contributes to a variety of popular web sites, on healthy living and healthy body issues.

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