The recent celebration of Labor Day is an annual reminder that the United States economic growth is carried on the backs of the working men and women. Unfortunately, in a literal sense, these backs are often injured by the wear and tear of this work.
Whether it is from the manual labor of factories and nursing or the sedentary stress of being hunched over a computer for hours each day, back and neck pain is estimated by the Center for Disease Control and Prevention to affect more than 80 percent of adult Americans every year. This makes life miserable for these workers, costs business and industry billions of dollars in lost productivity, and is extremely expensive for the injured individuals who must seek treatment.
According to a recent study released by the Institute of Health Metric and Evaluation at the University of Washington that looked at public and private spending on all diseases in 2013, treatment for back and neck pain is skyrocketing. The study noted that spending for diabetes was the most expensive condition at $101.4 billion, heart disease was second at $88.1 billion, but neck and back pain treatment was close behind at $87.6 billion.
Chronic back and neck pain affects both genders, it is agnostic to age and, for the past 40 years, treating this pain has been the primary mission of Texas Back Institute (TBI). Interestingly, TBI, which is world-renowned for its surgical treatment of back and neck pain, uses surgery as the absolute final option. In the overwhelming majority of the thousands of patients seen by the spine specialists at Texas Back Institute, non-surgical treatment – such as physical therapy – is employed. Such was the case with Matt Reeder.
Meet Matt Reeder
As an active father, outdoor sportsman and land surveyor, Matt Reeder does not fit the usual profile of patients who are experiencing chronic neck and back pain. The most obvious difference is his youth. Unlike older patients who have had decades of wear and tear on their spine, Matt is a young man in good physical condition.
Unfortunately, Matt began to experience a pain, the likes of which he had never felt.
His story (told in this short video) is one of unrelenting pain that precluded his doing everything he loved to do, from playing with his young son, to enjoying the outdoors, to working in his chosen profession. This story should be seen by anyone who has moderate or severe back pain because it shows a young man’s triumph over this condition with a little help from his friends at Texas Back Institute!
Matt Reeder’s story of overcoming excruciating back pain with conservative, non-surgical treatment is a model for others who may be putting off treatment in hopes that the pain “just goes away on its own.” In many, if not most, cases, when back pain lasts for more than a few weeks, it requires professional treatment in order to be eliminated. Avoiding this treatment can further exacerbate the condition.
If you or a loved one is experiencing unrelenting back or neck pain, lasting more than two weeks, contact us for an appointment. In most cases, the conservative, non-surgical treatment at Texas Back Institute will help you get your life back!
Also, please share this post with anyone you feel might benefit from hearing Matt’s story