What, if any, procedure you’ll need to undergo for back pain depends on your diagnosis, pain levels and severity of the condition. Muscle strains and ligament sprains will rarely require anything beyond at-home care and potentially an x-ray to rule out further damage (though physical therapy and rehabilitation may be required for more serious injuries), but for deformities and issues within the discs, joints and nerve roots in the back, more serious intervention may be needed.

Epidural Injections

Epidural injections are a non-invasive, non-surgical option for treating back pain. Steroid injections into the spine reduce inflammation leading to less pain in the affected area. They are often used to treat nerve root pain.

TENS Unit

Even less invasive than injections is the use of a TENS unit, used to reroute pain signals to the affected area.

Discectomy

Unfortunately, degenerative disc disease, or DDD, does not have a cure. However, a disecctomy is a surgical procedure that can reduce pain caused by DDD. During the operation, a small incision is cut and tiny instruments and a microscope are used to remove part of the affected disc. Though it is surgery, it’s considered minimally invasive due to the size of the incision made.

Spinal Fusion

For those who have a spinal deformity such as scoliosis, a spinal fusion can help. During this surgical procedure, the doctor joins together two or more vertebrae to eliminate movement between them therefore reducing or eliminating a curvature in the spine.

Decompression Surgery

A decompression surgery can be done to relieve pain in the back. In this surgery nerve root pain caused by pinching is relieved by removing part of the spine or disc affecting the nerve root. This allows room for the affected nerve to heal. There are several types of decompression surgery but the most common are microdiscectomy and laminectomy.