Treating chronic back pain

ROME, N.Y. >> Spinal injections are now available at Rome Memorial Hospital as an alternative treatment for chronic back pain. Medication injections help reduce inflammation and relieve pain and offer patients another option for pain relief before considering a surgical intervention.

Spine specialist Dr. Nicholas Qandah, FACOS, medical director of neurosciences at Rome Memorial Hospital, evaluates the treatments most beneficial for his patients including exercise, physical therapy, medication injections, or surgery.

Unlike oral pain medications, injections deliver medication directly to the source of the pain. The shots usually consist of a numbing agent and a steroid.

Spinal injections have been used to treat common back pain problems such as:

• A lumbar disc herniation where the nucleus of the disc pushes into the spinal canal and puts pressure on the spinal cord and nerves;

• Degenerative disc disease that may impinge on the nerves in the lower back;

• Lumbar spinal stenosis which compresses the nerves inside the spine causing significant pain;

• Compression fractures in the vertebra; or

• Inflammation or damage to a nerve usually in the low back that results in sharp pain shooting down the leg or pain from the neck into the arm.

For these and other back, neck and nerve pain problems, injections can be an effective nonsurgical treatment plan.

Injections can also be used to help your doctor diagnosis the cause of your pain.

“Spinal injections direct anti-inflammatory-medication right to the source of the pain,” said Qandah. “Injections are often prescribed after patients have completed oral medications and physical therapy.

“I look at each patient as an individual and evaluate their treatment according to their health, their lifestyle and their goals,” Qandah added. “Communication with patients and families is key to helping everyone feel at ease.”

Qandah, who is board certified in Neurosurgery and Fellowship trained in both Orthopedic and Neurosurgical Spine, is accepting new patients at his practice Central New York Brain & Spine Neurosurgery in Rome at Chestnut Commons, 107 E. Chestnut Street, Suite 105.

Fellowship trained in Complex and Minimally- Invasive Spine Surgery, Qandah has special interests and expertise in Regenerative and Less Invasive Treatments of the spine to get his patients better and back to enjoying life.

For more information or to make an appointment with Qandah, call 315-3567780.

PHOTO COURTESY ROME MEMORIAL HOSPITAL Neurosurgeon Nicholas Qandah, DO, delivers spinal injections guided by the latest imaging technology at Rome Memorial Hospital. The premium mobile C-arm is designed to meet the needs of a busy surgical environment, providing surgeons with the highest quality images during a variety of procedures including spinal, urological, orthopedic, cardiac and general surgery.