One of Ohio State’s strengths is our physical therapy program, with therapists who specialize in complex, degenerative spine conditions. Following an examination of posture, back mobility, strength and flexibility, our physical therapists customize a plan for you, which takes into account any impairments or functional limitations you have. Typically, you will work one on one with a therapist on pain-relieving movement strategies and on improvements in strength and flexibility.

Additional nonsurgical treatments include: 

• Education on back care and recommendations for specific needs (such as job demands, recreational activities, home activities)
• Real-time ultrasound imaging (RUSI) of movement in the spine area to re-train the deep stabilizing musculature of your spine (a highly researched, evidence-based intervention)
• Anti-inflammatory medications
• Weight loss guidance emphasizing healthier eating and exercise to ease pressure on the spine
• Pilates, yoga and aquatic therapy to strengthen back muscles
• Acupuncture (provided at the Comprehensive Spine Center) or dry needling for pain control through Ohio State’s Center for Integrative Medicine
• Biofeedback and behavior modification

When conservative treatments have been unsuccessful, we can offer:

• Spinal injections, such as epidurals or nerve blocks, directed toward areas where pain originates, with the aim of eliminating or relieving pain.
• Spine orthobiologics, also known as stem cell therapy, activates the body’s natural healing process through injections of the body’s own healthy cells into the injured area to stimulate tissue regeneration and natural healing.
• Radiofrequency ablation (also called radiofrequency neurotomy) to help with chronic pain that cannot be resolved with the short-term relief provided by nerve blocks and spinal injections. Information from these treatments, however, helps us pinpoint where the pain originates along the spine. During an ablation procedure, our spine specialists are guided by X-rays to visualize the spinal joint causing pain. We use a probe to deliver heat generated by radio waves to disable nerves that are causing pain and to interfere with their ability to transmit pain signals. The procedure offers you long-term pain relief and does not harm nerves that control movement or sensation in the legs.
• Spinal cord stimulation in the Center for Neuromodulation provides an option when surgery is not indicated or desired. A device similar to a pacemaker, usually implanted under the skin in your abdomen or upper buttock, sends mild electrical impulses. You use a transmitter that controls the signal, which changes pain messages before they reach the brain. Instead of pain, you feel a soothing, tingling sensation.

When other treatment options have failed, surgery can benefit you under certain circumstances:

• Decompression surgery (laminectomy): If a particular nerve is causing pain, a spine surgeon can remove the pressure being placed on the nerve by moving, widening or removing bone causing the pressure.
• Spinal fusion surgery: When vertebrae (bones of the spine) are out of alignment and causing instability in the back, a spinal fusion surgery can be performed to permanently join two vertebrae together.
• Spinal canal surgery: Surgery around the spinal canal (opening in vertebrae through which the spinal cord passes) can be performed to repair a damaged disc.