‘Common perception about back pain incorrect’

LAHORE : Punjab Institute of Neuro Sciences Executive Director Prof Dr Khalid Mahmood has said that the common perception about back pain and spinal cord diseases is not correct.

He said daily exercise should be routine while weight loss and other precautions are also important.

Bad posture and the natural degeneration of disc cause backache. Patients need proper investigations to diagnose the cause of backache and sciatica.

Then the modality of treatment either with drugs, physiotherapy or microsurgery should be adopted.

These views were expressed by the noted neuro surgeon in a lecture to medical students. He explained that in most cases there was no specific cause for back pain and 90 per cent of its patients recover over time due to physiotherapy and simple medicines.

If the backache extends from the waist down to the knees and feet, it is not simple backache and may need surgical treatment, he said. Operation can be decided after proper diagnosis with MRI and other related tests.

He said that patients did not need to be afraid of spinal surgery as the most sophisticated ways and modern methods of operation had been introduced in which keyhole surgery done using endoscope and cameras through 2cm skin incision caused least damage to normal structures. The common notion that disc surgery is usually unsuccessful is absolutely incorrect, said the neuro surgeon.

Prof Khalid made it clear that these techniques were being used regularly at Punjab Institute of Neuro Sciences.

He said, “We perform nearly 2,000 spinal surgeries at PINS each year which included disc surgery and surgery for spinal tumors, trauma, TB and complex congenital spinal diseases. The PINS is a blessing for the patients of brain and spinal diseases, he said.