Injuries to the spine aren’t that uncommon, and oftentimes minor back injuries will heal on their own with rest and a conservative care plan. However, sometimes spine pain can linger, and it may leave you wondering why your back pain won’t just go away. Today, we explain some common reasons why your back injury isn’t healing, and how you can help it get better.

Lingering Back Pain

Here’s a look at five reasons why your back problems aren’t going away.

1. Continuing To Overstress – Back injuries like strains and sprains best heal with rest and hydration, but a number of people just assume that they can go on with their everyday life like normal and the problem will resolve. If you continue to stress and strain the area, it’s not going to be able to fully heal. Take a day off work, or skip that intermural volleyball game this week and give your spine the rest it needs.

2. Too Much Rest – On the flip side, giving your spine too much rest after an injury can actually inhibit healing. Your body needs rest, but it also needs exercise and strength training to improve muscle groups in the areas that are recovering. By strengthening areas that are weakened, not only can you help the area heal faster, but you can decrease the likelihood of a subsequent injury to the same location.

3. Misdiagnosis – Another reason why you may not be experiencing pain relief is because you aren’t treating the true source of pain. If you just google your symptoms, you may incorrectly diagnose your pain as a pinched nerve, when it’s actually caused by a herniated disc. Back injuries can have similar symptoms but be caused by different underlying issues, so if you want to ensure you have a correct diagnosis after an injury, swing into a spine specialist’s office.

4. Too Many Medications – Pain medications are good at masking pain, but they do very little to actually treat the underlying problem. Anti-inflammatory agents can help treat problems caused by inflammation in the spine, but if it’s caused by an actual injury, they won’t fix the true problem. Pain medications are like putting a bucket under a leaky spot in the roof. They help control the problem, but nothing is going to get better in the long run until you patch the hole in your roof. Medications can help, but they shouldn’t be your only treatment plan when dealing with spine pain.

5. Inadequate Medical Treatment – In some cases, spine pain won’t go away until a medical professional has intervened. We can get you set up with the best conservative care plan, or we can talk about your minimally invasive surgical options. If you feel like you’ve tried everything for your spine pain and it continues to linger, give a spine specialist like Dr. Chang a call.