Fighting back pain, the disease of the century

From common headaches, to lumbosciatica, to chronic disabling painthe. Pain therapy is the theme with which he debuted yesterday “Health at your side” the new fortnightly column on Delta Radio in collaboration with the nursing homes of Porto Viro and Rovigo (Pederzoli group). At the microphones, yesterday, Dr. Francesca Vlassich, head of Anesthesiology and Resuscitation of the Madonna della Salute nursing home in Porto Viro.

Analgesic therapy, specifies the doctor, “It is a treatment that is aimed above all at people who suffer from chronic pain which lasts over time but is also aimed at the ontological patient, despite being a complex patient who requires adequate structures and to be followed in a much more in-depth manner. The first approach to pain therapy is pharmacological, then other physiotherapeutic and supportive treatments are proposed.”

Path Therefore, if you suffer from chronic pain, you can request an antalgic visit through your general practitioner. “The patient comes to my observation with a request from the attending physician – explains Vlassich – I evaluate the previous path and if it is not sufficient I request further investigations such as radiological tests, specific blood tests, asking for support from the rheumatologist or orthopedist or carrying out neurological investigations to evaluate possible alterations at the nervous level. This is where my intervention begins.”

Back pain, the disease of the century “Most of the patients I see are affected by spinal problems – explains the specialist – which is the disease of the century, both at the cervical and lumbar levels. This is due on the one hand to the extension of life expectancy: like other bones, the spinal column also degenerates over the years and, having to support body weight throughout life, it is the one that is most burdened by it. At the same time I also see many young people with herniated discs which are very frequent, mostly in the lumbar region. Before getting to pharmacological therapy I always recommend physical activity, it is important to always stay active so that the abdominal and paravertebral muscles remain toned. It is important to combine physiokinesitherapy exercises with dedicated postural gymnastics exercises to learn how to correctly carry out daily activities and maneuvers that we do every day, often incorrectly, such as making the bed or bending down to pick up something.”

Headaches are a complex problem. “Many people suffer from headaches. It does not have a single origin and this makes it difficult to intercept and treat. It is often possible to achieve a benefit in reducing the number of headache attacks, which is positive because many patients have very disabling and frequent attacks. In this case, drug therapy is appropriate.”

Lumbosciatica “It is a pain localized at the lumbar level with radiation to the legs which leads to motor and movement difficulties and the majority of affected patients are women – Vlassich summarizes the problem – This disease makes patients dependent on the help of family members or healthcare personnel and this impacts psychologically. The first approach is outpatient and involves different types of infiltration carried out under ultrasound guidance and targeted. If these fail, minimally invasive interventions can be performed, which are not real surgical interventions but are infiltrations carried out in depth under radiological guidance in which drugs are not used but electrical structures, we are talking about radio frequencies and radiomodulations with which we desensitize the affected area and reduce the pain”.