The intense pain in the lower part of her back was completely gone. She discontinued taking Motrin. Six months after her fast, Rhonda won a city-wide track championship. The standard medical approach to back pain varies, depending on the severity of the condition. Usually muscle relaxers, pain killers, tranquilizers, anti-inflammatory drugs, steroids, physical therapy such as traction, diathermy, ultrasound, electrical stimulation, hot packs or cold packs, orthopedic appliances such as braces or cervical collars and surgery are prescribed in the hope that the backache will go away.
Researchers say the less medical intervention in back pain, the better.
The surgery usually is a laminectomy in which adjacent vertebrae are surgically fused as the disc material is scrapped away. Over 200,000 surgical procedures are performed annually in attempts to solve this problem. It tops the list of unnecessary surgery. According to some studies, more than half of all spinal surgery for lower back problems should never have been performed. Most people who have had back surgery, report a recurrence of their symptoms within a year or two of the operation and may return to the operation table.