At the five offices of Long Island Spine Rehabilitation Medicine, we treat musculoskeletal injuries in the back and neck, and throughout the body. As physiatrists, we focus on nonsurgically relieving pain and restoring function. Patients come to us with injuries that result from everyday activities, occupational duties, sports, hobbies and recreation, traffic accidents, and slip and falls.

Because we are a holistic practice, we offer a broad range of therapeutic options, both traditional and complementary, in order to provide our patients with relief and increased mobility as quickly as possible. We often combine treatment methods to accelerate the process. We also help our patients improve their posture and strengthen their muscles to increase their strength, balance, and flexibility, knowing that this will decrease the likelihood of future injuries.

If you are experiencing pain or decreased mobility in your spine or joints, contact us now to give yourself the best chance of rapid recovery. We know how much even relatively minor injuries can interfere with your work, your chores, and your pleasures. The sooner you get in touch with our specialists, the sooner we can help you resume your daily routine and improve your quality of life.

Back and Neck Injuries and the Trouble They Cause

According to the National Institutes of Health (NIH), the vast majority of people experience back pain during their life. While some spinal injuries are severe, requiring surgery, most often the following injuries can be treated by our nonsurgical methods:

  • Back and neck pain: including stiffness, mobility issues, limited range of motion (e.g. stiff neck, whiplash)
  • Neuropathy: weakness, numbness, tingling, and/or stabbing pain, usually in the hands and/or feet caused by damage to peripheral nerves in the spine
  • Disc herniation: when the discs (cushions between the vertebrae) age, wear out, shift position, and their gelatinous interior pushes through their outer wall to press on an adjacent nerve
  • Spinal stenosis: as the spinal canal narrows due to aging, often developing bone spurs, that put pressure on the spinal cord and nerve roots 
  • Pinched nerves: pressure put on spinal nerves by bones, cartilage, muscles, or tendons
  • Sciatica: back pain caused by pressure on the large nerve running from the lower back down each leg may cause serious pain in the hip, buttocks, and legs
  • Bone Spurs: (osteophytes) are hard bumps of extra bone that sometimes press on spinal nerves and result in pain
  • Myofascial Pain: can occur anywhere but commonly affects the upper back, neck, and shoulders 

It should be noted that while in a great many cases, back and neck pain and immobility occur due to an injury, most such injuries become more likely as the body ages due to the wear and tear of osteoarthritis, the erosion of vertebral discs, and the narrowing of the spinal canal which bone spurs exacerbate.

Treatments We Offer for Back and Neck Injuries

Whether you have suffered whiplash in a car accident, herniated a disc while lifting a heavy load or pulled a back muscle playing sports, Long Island Spine Rehabilitation Medicine has a number of treatments at the ready to help you recover from your back or neck injuries. Some of our most successful therapies include:

  • Spinal epidural injections under fluoroscopic guidance enable us to pinpoint the precise location of your pain and target it with a corticosteroid to reduce inflammation and an analgesic to reduce pain
  • Acupuncture is a therapy used for thousands of years in many parts of the world to relieve pain, reduce inflammation, and accelerate healing. The hair-thin needles painlessly inserted along charted meridians release endorphins that act as natural painkillers
  • PEMF (Pulsed Electromagnetic Field) technology employs varying frequencies of electromagnetic waves to decrease pain and revitalize the body’s natural healing process. 
  • Physical therapy to strengthen core muscles and restore mobility

Joint and Muscle Injuries Throughout the Body

Joint and muscle injuries can occur anywhere in the body and our skilled physicians are well-prepared to treat them effectively no matter where they happen. 

Whether you have fallen, been moving furniture, gardening, holding a baby in an awkward position as it sleeps, playing a friendly game of football, or packing to move severe or ongoing pain is an indicator that you should seek medical advice. The sooner you contact our capable physiatrists, the sooner we can set up a regimen of therapies to help you heal from:

Treatments for Musculoskeletal Injuries

Therapeutic options for musculoskeletal injuries include:

  • Ultrasound-guided trigger point injections to target the site of the pain with corticosteroids to reduce inflammation and lidocaine to reduce pain
  • Physical therapy to restore strength, flexibility, and range of motion
  • Acupuncture to promote pain relief and healing
  • Platelet-rich plasma (PRP) to accelerate healing
  • PEMF (Pulsed Electromagnetic Field) therapy, in addition to treating pain and inflammation, increases blood flow to your cells to promote more rapid healing
  • Radiofrequency ablation (RFA) stops pain by deadening a nerve

Accurate Diagnosis Is Key to Effective Treatment 

Whether we are treating you for spinal or other musculoskeletal injuries, our well-trained physiatrists will give you a physical examination and take a careful medical history before they proceed to use advanced diagnostic methods to determine the precise source of your problem. These diagnostic methods include:

  • Imaging options: X-rays, CT scans, MRIs, ultrasound
  • Electromyography (EMG) and nerve conduction studies to detect neurological damage
  • Ultrasound-guided Injections into musculoskeletal tissue to show us precisely where your pain originates
  • Diagnostic medial branch block, fluoroscopy-guided facet injections, or discography if you are experiencing back pain

Our Focus Is Making You Feel Better

Our doctors never lose sight of the fact that our primary goal is a human one: to relieve your suffering and restore your mobility. The sooner you reach out to our experienced physiatrists, the sooner we can help you feel more comfortable, capable, and in control so contact us now.