Which doctor specializes in back pain

In most cases, the pain goes away over time. If your back pain is severe or does not improve, you may need medical care.

Here are answers to some common questions about back pain and tips on when to seek help. There are various causes of back pain, including muscle pain with or without muscles spasms, disc pain, joint pain, or nerve pain. In most cases, these are not harmful or dangerous. The period of acute pain is usually limited and may be treated at home or by primary care doctors. Sometimes, these patients may be referred to doctors who specialize in back pain.

Michael Guo, MD , a Duke physiatrist physical medicine and rehabilitation doctor who specializes in spine care. Fortunately, spine infections and cancer are very rare and usually only affect people with special risk factors.

Spine fractures are also rare and may be associated with thinned spine bones or injuries. When your back first starts to hurt, try taking an over-the-counter pain reliever for example, aspirin, ibuprofen, or acetaminophen and applying ice in the first 48 hours.

You may apply heat after 48 hours. If your back pain lasts more than two weeks and keeps you from participating in normal, daily activities, see your family doctor. If your pain is severe, you should see a doctor sooner.

For example, Parkinson's disease, other disorders of the brain, spinal cord, and peripheral nerves. A neurologist might be chosen if your back or neck pain is chronic and longstanding, as they are an expert in the origins of pain. A neurologist does not perform spine surgery; instead, they will examine how well your nerves function, prescribe medication, and refer you to on to another specialist, as appropriate.

A neurologist can be a medical healthcare provider MD or another licensed practitioner. A neurosurgeon specializes in diseases and conditions of the central nervous system, and the nerves that branch out from the spine called the peripheral nervous system. A neurosurgeon might perform surgery on the brain, the spinal cord, or on the spine itself.

While neurosurgeons do provide non-surgical management of back pain, in most cases, you'll be referred to one only after you've exhausted all your conservative care options. An osteopath is board-certified healthcare provider who, by oath, is bound to work in a patient-centric, holistic way. Becoming a Doctor of Osteopathy DO requires graduation from an accredited medical school, taking the same curriculum as an MD, plus to hours of study focusing on the musculoskeletal system.

After medical school, a DO then completes an internship and residency program usually alongside MDs , passes state licensing exams, and usually obtains certification in a specialty. Many osteopaths practice as primary care healthcare providers. While osteopaths are licensed to prescribe drugs and perform minor surgeries, they often look to the environment and lifestyle and perform hands-on manipulation when caring for patients.

Another type of holistically minded provider, the physiatrist is a board-certified healthcare provider specializing in physical functioning. This growing sub-specialty provides rehabilitation for all kinds of conditions and injuries from stroke to low back pain, athletic injuries and more. Quite often, the physiatrist will coordinate a patient's team of specialists, ensuring a treatment plan that effectively addresses your specific medical needs.

You might understand a physiatrist as a physical therapy MD. Chiropractic is a hands-on alternative medicine discipline that restores the body's physiological functioning by aligning the spine.

To do this, chiropractors treat subluxations a term that means something different to the chiropractor than it does to a conventional medical healthcare provider. Chiropractors consider their work to be a combination of art and science.

The goal of an adjustment of a subluxation is to improve overall health by removing interruptions to the normal flow of nerve transmission. It's important to recognize that the strategy of most chiropractic adjustments is to loosen; in other words, to increase flexibility. Toning and tightening are not really what your chiropractor is going for when they adjust you. If you're loose-jointed, you have a connective tissue compromise or you have osteoporosis, chiropractic may possibly do more harm than good.

Generally speaking, you should see a medical healthcare provider for back pain you know to be due to osteoarthritis or a herniated disc, or if you have a spinal abnormality.

A chiropractor may be fine for lumbar lower back pain , sciatica , and old sports injuries affecting the back. If you're certain you don't have a disc problem and you want to try conservative treatment before anything else, you might start with a chiropractor.

Otherwise, consult with your general practitioner, who may send you to an orthopedist or other specialist depending on the particulars of your pain. An epidural steroid injection ESI may be performed by several types of healthcare providers, including those who specialize in pain management, physiatrists, interventional radiologists, anesthesiologists, orthopedic surgeons, neurosurgeons, and neurologists.

Sign up for our Health Tip of the Day newsletter, and receive daily tips that will help you live your healthiest life. Bishop, P. Knowledge transfer in family physicians managing patients with acute low back pain: a prospective randomized control trial. Spine Journal. May-June Duke Health. Feb 3, Wooster Community Hospital Health System. When you should and shouldn't see a chiropractor. June 26, This is because it is often a pain problem that goes on for a length of time prior to the individual asking for help with it.

Your general practitioner will likely not be as well appraised of treatments for specific back pain problems as their specialist counterparts, so they might opt to order some tests to confirm their suspicions and then use those findings to refer you to one of the specialists listed below. You might consult an emergency room doctor if you are suffering from back pain that you require immediate treatment for. Either the pain is so intense, or it has become severe enough to cause other issues in your body, and so you are seeking emergency medical care.

These ER incidents generally arise when the back pain occurs in response to trauma or an accident of some kind. They will have more appropriate suggestions and referrals relative to issues common in children.

Orthopedic doctors and surgeons are trained experts in the healing functions relative to the musculoskeletal system. This type of doctor is board certified and can help to treat any issues you may have with pain in the neck, spine, disc-related pain, and other common back pain complaints. Another type of doctor who might be helpful in treating your back pain would be a rheumatologist. These specialists are experienced and capable of treating issues that cause back pain in individuals who have various forms of arthritis.

Inflammation in the spine can be a major contributor to significant and felt back pain problems.