Home / Orthopedic Blog / The Evolution of Spinal Rehabilitation: From Traditional Therapies to Natural Orthobiologics for Lasting Back Pain Relief!
The Evolution of Spinal Rehabilitation: From Traditional Therapies to Natural Orthobiologics for Lasting Back Pain Relief!
By: Our Medical Team | March 20, 2025
Spinal Rehabilitation Treatment: What’s Right for You?
Back pain can be excruciating, severely limiting human mobility and affecting quality of life. Patients and medical researchers have long sought the best approach to dealing with not only the symptoms of injury, but the root cause. Heavy reliance on invasive procedures and pharmaceuticals has given way to alternative treatments ranging from medication management to minimally-invasive epidurals to the new frontier of nonsurgical orthobiologics.
In this blog, we’ll take a look at traditional and innovative treatments for spinal rehabilitation to help you choose the approach that’s right for you.
Lumbar Fusion Surgery: The Traditional Treatment
This traditional treatment can be life-changing for patients with severe back pain caused by degenerative disc disease or spinal instability, deformities and injury. The surgery involves fusing together two or more vertebrae using bone grafts and metal screws, rods or plates to prevent movement between them, thus reducing the misalignment, abnormal motion or nerve compression. As with any surgery, however, it is not without its risks. Complications during and after surgery have been noted, and they can be serious. One of the most significant downsides of lumbar surgery is the long recovery time and extensive physical therapy required to regain strength and flexibility, all of which may come with its own pain, discomfort or mobility limitations. It can take weeks to sit upright for any length of time, months to return to work and as with any surgery there’s no guarantees t
Medication Management and Opioids: Pain Relief With Risks
Medication management is often used to treat patients’ symptoms in lieu of, or after, an invasive procedure. Opioid painkillers can help people manage chronic pain related to spinal conditions, but there are well-known drawbacks to the use of oxycodone, hydrocodone, morphine and other drugs in this class. On the plus side, opioids are effective pain relievers and can be a vital option for patients when other interventions simply don’t work. Short-term opioid use can also help patients participate in physical and rehabilitative therapies that may be too painful otherwise. Despite these benefits, the potential for addiction and dependency is high. The National Institutes of Health estimates that more than 16 million people worldwide are affected by opioid use disorder, and 120,000 deaths are attributed to opioids annually. Healthcare providers are exceedingly cautious when prescribing them and often seek alternatives methods to manage pain for long-term conditions.
Epidurals: A Shift to Less Invasive Procedures
Minimally-invasive outpatient procedures such as epidural steroid injections gained favor in the 1990s and early 2000s as patients and healthcare providers sought alternatives to surgery and medication management for spinal rehabilitation. Delivering corticosteroids—powerful anti-inflammatory agents—directly into the epidural spaces of the spine reduces inflammation around nerve roots, providing a welcome reprieve from conditions such as sciatica, herniated discs and spinal stenosis. The results are often more effective and last longer than other pain management options with limited side effects (indigestion, increased appetite or trouble sleeping). Long-term use, however, can cause weight gain and mood swings, increase blood sugar levels, weaken immune response and increase the risk of fractures due to bone density loss. Thus, it is important to keep in mind that an epidural steroid injection is not a cure for any condition, but is rather a means for managing pain so patients can resume normal activities and perform rehabilitation exercises.
Orthobiologics: The Search for Effective Nonsurgical Approaches
In the ongoing quest for effective, noninvasive treatments for back pain, orthobiologics have gained significant attention as the new frontier versus surgery and pharmaceuticals. Orthobiologics use the body’s natural regenerative properties to jump-start tissue repair and accelerate the healing. Among the most promising is the Discseel® Procedure, which utilizes an FDA-approved Fibrin biologic to seal, heal, and promote healthy, new disc tissue growth. Sealing the torn disc treats the root cause of the problem, stops the leaking and the pain, no longer inflaming spinal nerves. that fibrin seals discs, relieving lower back pain and allowing them to return to normal mechanical strength. The procedure is done on an outpatient basis in less than 90 minutes, and most patients are walking around within 24 hours.
Make Back Pain a Thing of the Past
Find the right treatment for your chronic back pain at Southwest Spine and Sports. Our team of experts have extensive experience in providing the best, tailored care for patients’ unique conditions and are board certified with fellowship training. Learn more about the treatments we offer and schedule a consultation today.
TAGS
