Book an Appointment with a Back Specialist Near Me in West Orange

How Can I Make an Appointment with a Board-Certified Back Specialist in West Orange, New Jersey?

Making an appointment with one of our back pain doctors is really simple. You can either call our pain center at (855) 211-8568 or you can go to our website and fill in a contact form. Our friendly staff will check your insurance coverage for both consultation and treatment. Back pain treatments are covered by Medicare, and by the great majority of medical insurances.

Once you’ve booked an appointment with Dr. Laura Lombardi, Dr. Shane Volney, or Dr. George Hanna, our back doctors will ask you questions about your daily routine, your general health, and your symptoms, and will perform different tests to find the root cause of your discomfort. You will then get medical advice and a customized treatment plan.

What Should I Tell My Back Doctor on My First Appointment?

Each patient experiences pain differently, so it’s very important to offer as many details as possible. When it comes to backache, whether you’re experiencing acute or chronic pain, the discomfort can fluctuate in terms of intensity and timing. So, to make things a bit easier for your doctor, it’s recommended to describe your back pain clearly. Keeping a pain journal is a great idea and many people who live with chronic pain choose to do so.

Use adjectives that describe your pain. By expanding your existing vocabulary with more descriptive words, you can paint a clearer picture of your experience. For instance, if you describe your pain as burning, electrical, or stabbing, and radiating towards your extremities, your doctor will know that you might be dealing with radiculopathy (a compressed or irritated spinal nerve root). Other words that are commonly used to describe pain are: sharp, stabbing, throbbing, diffuse, aching, cramping, radiating, shooting, numbness, etc.

Describe the intensity of the pain. This is another important aspect that, when described accurately, can help your doctor make a quicker diagnosis. Your back pain specialist will ask you to either rate the intensity of your pain with a number from 1 to 10 or to pick a face on the ‘oucher’ or ‘faces’ chart that indicates how your pain makes you feel.

How Can I Avoid Back Pain?

Back pain can sometimes be prevented by making certain changes to your lifestyle. For instance, you should try to:

• Keep your back muscles strong by doing stretching and core-strengthening exercises twice a week.

• Try to maintain a better posture by strengthening your back.

• Avoid lifting heavy objects and, when you do need to lift something heavy, keep your back straight and bend your knees. Let your legs do the work and avoid arching your back and don’t twist your body while lifting.

• If you must move something heavy, try to push rather than pull.

• Being overweight can put a lot of pressure on your spine. Therefore, it’s important to have a balanced diet and to lose the extra pounds.

• If you have a desk job and you spend a lot of time sitting in front of the computer, take frequent breaks. You should get up and stretch every 30 minutes.

• Avoid wearing heels because they add stress to the muscles in your spine, and flip-flops because they lack arch support.

• Quit smoking. Although it might come as a surprise, smoking can lead to back pain. This unhealthy habit can reduce calcium absorption and make smokers more at risk of developing osteoporosis.

To avoid developing chronic back pain, it’s very important to schedule an appointment with a back specialist near you as soon as your pain becomes persistent. Left untreated, back pain can worsen and you can develop a more serious affection that might require spine surgery. Our West Orange, NJ back specialists focus on helping patients prevent, manage, and recover from this debilitating affection. By using the most effective minimally-invasive treatments in combination with physical therapy and lifestyle changes, our back doctors will help you avoid spine surgery and narcotics. Take the first step towards a pain-free life by booking an appointment with our Harvard-trained back specialist in our West Orange, New Jersey pain center, on Mount Pleasant Avenue, near the Essex Country Club.