Back pain, known by the technical term dorsalgia, is experienced by just about everyone at one time or another. While some people only suffer when moving house or doing heavy lifting, for others it can be a chronic problem. It can make day to day life feel unbearable.

Fortunately, there are a number of treatments, including physical therapy, chiropractic care, homeopathy, and medicinal painkillers. While physical therapy attempts to end the pain for good, most medicinal options should only be used as temporary relief, not as a daily regimen.

It must be noted that some back pain could be a symptom of some serious, potentially fatal conditions. Contact a doctor immediately if you also experience:

• Weakness in the legs

• Incontinence of the bowels and/or bladder

• Trauma, such as falling or impact (anything that could have caused a bone to break)

• Osteoporosis

• Multiple myeloma

• Known cancer

• Fever

• Weight loss

When it comes to treatment, it is crucial to identify exactly what is wrong with your back. It could be a muscle, tendon, joint, or nerve problem. It can be located in one or more of the regions of the back and spine: cervical, thoracic, lumbar, or pelvic. These bits of information and the type of pain will help a doctor isolate the problem and rule out more serious causes (e.g. Cancer, Infection).

Sources of Back Pain

Most back pain can be attributed to only a few sources, but there are dozens. Starting with the most common:

• Stress

• Problems with synovial joints in the spine (Also called facet or zygapophysial joints)

• Trauma

• Spinal disc herniation

• Degenerative disc disease

• Osteoarthritis

• Spinal Stenosis

• Cancer

• Infection

• Fractures

• Inflammatory disease

Treatment for these conditions ranges from rest, heating, and stretching to surgery, therapy, and antibiotics, among other drugs. It's important you and a doctor discover which is causing your back pain. It can be scary thinking it might be a disease, but many of these are very treatable and you may never have to suffer through back pain again.

Knowing When It's Time

How do you know when it's time to move on to prescription painkillers and/or muscle relaxants? Your back will tell you. When your doctor has ruled out the large number of serious yet treatable conditions, when you have tried stretching and heating and over-the-counter stuff, when you can't go to work, exercise, or even get around the house, that's when it's time to use prescription drugs to regain your life.

If the pain is severe enough, a doctor may choose to put you on opioid drugs. These are your codeines, morphines, etc. However, these drugs may impair your daily function and are highly addictive. They're not a long-term solution.

Another option to consider: muscle relaxants. Muscle relaxants act on skeletal muscle tissue to affect muscle tone and relieve spasms, hyperreflexia (twitching), and pain. Among these, Carisoprodol reigns king. Carisoprodol is highly effective at relieving back pain and often comes mixed with the over-the-coutner painkiller acetaminophen. You get to worry less about addiction with Carisoprodol, and worry more about how you will enjoy your mobility.