Back pain

Comprehensive treatment to relieve your symptoms

Back pain is extremely common and may affect you at any time in your life. It may happen when you lift objects, fall, or simply for no reason at all. Although most episodes will be short, some don’t go away. When this happens, getting the right help as quickly as possible allows you to get on with living again.

Here at Schoen Clinic, our team of experts can diagnose, explain and help you recover. We have everything under one roof, working as a team, with one aim – your recovery.

There are different types of back pain

People often think back pain is “pain in the back”, but it can be differentiated into several types.

Acute low back pain is the sharp or dull pain, that typically lasts a few days and then goes on its own with gentle exercise or rest, and pain killers.

When it does not go and lasts a few weeks, we term this chronic back pain. Some people have low-level chronic pain with acute episodes which is another common pattern.

When the pain goes into the legs, we refer to this as sciatic pain and is due to the nerves being compressed or irritated.

Symptoms: Back pain warning signs

While most back pain is not serious, it is important to make a diagnosis and to exclude serious underlying problems. There are symptoms we call “red flags”. If you are in any doubt about the following symptoms you should get immediate assistance.

Pain radiating into both legs
Numbness and/or weakness in your legs
Disturbance of your bladder and bowels
Back pain after a fall
Numbness around your bottom
Unexplained weight loss
Sweating at night

Causes: Why does back pain occur?

Humans like to understand why we get back pain. We often blame, how you sit, how you stand, how you sleep, how you move.
The fact is mechanical back pain occurs because of age-related wear and tear in your body. So, everyone has the potential to wear out, but we wear out at different rates based on our genetic makeup. This degeneration can be hastened by repetitive actions or injury, and the pain may be made worse by prolonged or poor posture, but it hasn’t caused it. Exceptions to this generalisation include other conditions such as an underlying tumour, infection and rheumatological conditions. This is why getting a diagnosis and a treatment plan are so important.

Diagnosis: How we detect the cause of your back pain

At Schoen Clinic, we have everything we need to diagnose and treat your pain. We have state-of-the-art diagnostics and highly trained experts in all aspects of back pain. The team expand over specialties such as sports and exercise doctors, pain medicine consultants, rheumatologists, orthopaedic and neurosurgical spine surgeons and radiologists.

Imaging: Deeper investigation

Many people need further imaging to diagnose the problem. Our hospital has plain x-rays, ultrasound, CT and MRI scanners to help your clinical team get a better understanding of your problem. Gathering information is the key to your treatment plan.

Further tests: A holistic approach

Our wide range of specialists has led us to develop our multidisciplinary approach. Your pain becomes our focus and we draw on the expertise of the whole group to come up with a plan for your recovery.

Examination: Clinical assessment

Clinical examination forms part of your evaluation. If specialist investigations such as measuring your nerve function (nerve conduction studies) or measuring the power of individual muscle groups (isokinetic machine), these can all be done at the hospital by our in-house experts.

Conservative treatment for back pain

Our team understand that the majority of patients can be treated with a combination of advice, pain killers and exercise.

The advice is based on the diagnosis and examination findings. Our experts, however, also have an extensive network of key physical therapists that we trust to provide expert care for our patients. These therapists range from physiotherapists, osteopaths, chiropractors, personal trainers.

Knowledge and communication between all of us is a key component of our success and your recovery.

Conservative treatment methods

Medication: Pain relief
Physiotherapy: Strengthening your back muscles

Surgical treatment methods

Spinal Surgery: May be appropriate

Medication: Pain relief

Your local pharmacist or GP is likely to have given you advice regarding this. We are happy to advise you further, and also, we have pain management specialists who can optimise your pain relief.

Physiotherapy: Strengthening your back muscles

Our team at Schoen Clinic will be able to advise you on maintaining your spinal health and refer you to one of our affiliated physical therapy clinics. You may already have a physiotherapist, osteopath or chiropractor that you already work with. You would probably be surprised to know that we probably work with them too. Our clinicians believe your recovery is strongly influenced by good communication and we are always at hand to liaise with your physical therapist.

Spinal Surgery: May be appropriate

The theme running through our hospital is that surgery is only required when all else has failed. Your surgeon will discuss everything with you and ensure that the whole team have done everything to avoid an operation.

Schoen Clinic has all of the necessary expertise to perform your surgery. We have modern theatres, well-designed wards and these include high dependency beds should you need them. On the wards, your medical care will be provided by round the clock resident intensive care consultants. We are the only private facility in the UK that can make this proud claim. Your safety is our concern.

Back pain: Our specialists

Our team of back pain specialists will give you the right treatment to ensure your rapid recovery.

Dr Roger Wolman

Schoen Clinic Orthopaedic and Spinal Hospital London

Consultant - Rheumatology

Consultant - Sports & Exercise Medicine

Consultant Rheumatology and Sport & Exercise Medicine
MD (Res) FRCP FFSEM