Editors Letter

BACK PAIN

It’s early — too early. Your eyes open up and as you blink away the sleep from your eyes you remember that you should probably replace your bed, or flip it, or whatever the mattress people suggest. Either way, it’s just not comfortable. You roll to your side, and just as you start to pick yourself up you feel this pinch in your back. Wow, is that painful! And also, one of the worst ways that you could start your day.

Back pain affects one in four Americans at some point in their lifetime, which means that chances are, you’ve experienced it. Whether you had a mild muscle strain while working out at the gym or threw it out while helping your cousin move his couch, your back is the center of your body’s universe. If it’s not functioning properly, you’re in for a world of pain, and that’s about as much fun as … well … helping your cousin move his couch.

So what do you do about it? Whether you find yourself immobilized completely or just having a hard time sitting throughout the day, there is help. Today’s pain doctors have so many tools at their disposal that it’s staggering. Take Spinal Cord Stimulation, for example, a newer take on an old classic. It used to be that we used small pads to supply electrical current to the back right above the affected nerve. This would dull the pain, but because the current had to travel through skin and muscle, it took larger amounts of current to get the job done. Although those tools are still effective for many patients, a spinal cord stimulator actually delivers the current right next to the nerve, using much less electricity in the process. It’s an excellent option.

But there’s so much more that we can do to help your problem. Whether it needs surgery, chiropractic care or some other type of treatment, it’s our goal to get you up and at ’em again, using the best possible method possible.

From our families to yours,

Dr. Tory McJunkin and Dr. Paul Lynch Founders of Arizona Pain