What kind of doctor treats back pain? A look into Physiatry
- Category: Preventative Healthcare, Illness & Injuries
- Posted On:
Are you one of the millions of Americans with back pain? For some, the pain radiates down the leg or up the shoulder. Others have a knot they can never quite tease out. Back pain affects mobility and quality of life, but which type of doctor should you see for back pain?
Katrien Jack is a Physician Assistant who specializes in Physiatry, a nonsurgical approach to back, nerve, and joint pain. This specialty can be the ideal starting place if you have back pain and here are the reasons why.
What is Physiatry?
Also called Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation (PM&R), Physiatry uses nonsurgical therapies to help patients manage back pain. Treatments can range from oral medication, physical therapy, and at-home stretches to other interventions like injections, ablations, or spinal cord stimulators.
“You don’t need to jump to surgery or live with pain—there are many possibilities in between,” says Katrien. “Physiatrists control and treat symptoms like numbness, tingling, weakness, dull pain, or shooting pains into the limbs, shoulders, or neck without surgery.”
When is back pain bad enough to see a doctor?
While back pain often comes with age, you don’t have to live with it. If you’ve tried stretches, applying heat, massage, or foam rolling but haven’t felt relief in a few weeks to a month, consult a Physiatrist like Katrien. If you live with chronic low back pain or sciatica, Physiatry can be very helpful.
You do not need a referral to see Katrien or another Physiatry specialist at Ogden Clinic. “We enjoy being the starting place for back pain because we have all the tools and experience to do a complete workup and treatment plan,” Katrien says.
Common reasons people see a Physiatrist
- Facet joint arthritis: Low back pain caused by the small facet joints that help us bend and turn.
- Sacroiliac (SI) joint dysfunction: Pain in the buttocks and low back sourced from the joint that links the pelvis to the spine.
- Spinal stenosis: Leg pain while standing/walking caused by the narrowing of the channel inside the spine where nerves travel.
- Intervertebral disc degeneration: Pain coming from the discs between the vertebrae which help absorb impact in the spine. Degeneration includes disc bulges, disc herniations, and irritation of nerves (radiating pain).
- Compression fractures to the vertebrae can be caused by injury or osteoporosis.
- Arthritic joints can cause referred pain, such as pain in the buttocks due to arthritic hips.
How do Physiatrists treat back pain?
Katrien and the specialists at Ogden Clinic are passionate about interventional therapies that help control the underlying source of pain and improve outcomes. Their toolkit includes:
- Ablations
- EMG (electromyography)
- Interventional spinal therapeutics
- NCS (nerve conduction studies)
- Peripheral joint injections
- Spinal cord injections (epidural steroid injections)
- Spinal cord stimulators
- Stretching plans and Physical Therapy referrals
- Trigger point injections
Of course, oral medication may also be prescribed. “Medication is often a bandage rather than a cure, so we try our best to use it carefully and in conjunction with other treatments whenever possible,” says Katrien.
Do I need a referral to see a Physiatrist? Do you take my insurance?
Physiatry is the perfect starting place for back pain as you do not need to be referred. They are focused on improving function to pain from injury, illness, or congenital disability. And they have in-network connections with Neurosurgeons, Orthopedists, and Physical Therapists in Ogden Clinic's network should you need assistance through another specialty. Ogden Clinic accepts nearly all insurance plans.
