Free from Back Pain at Last

A Nonsurgical Approach Helps One Patient Find Relief

Sharon Radon, of Brunswick, could handle the pain in her right knee, because she knew that knee replacement surgery was on the horizon. Her lower back pain was another story.

“While I knew my knee was going to be fixed, I was at my wits’ end with the back pain,” she said.

Sharon was having a hard time sleeping. The pain in her lower right back was radiating down to her thigh. That, on top of the knee pain, was making her tired and irritable. “My kids kept saying that my doctors had to do something for me.”

Sharon agreed. “I wanted to address the back pain before my knee surgery, because that procedure requires a lot of healing time,” she explained. However, she was uncertain about the idea of back surgery and whether it would even be an option with her upcoming knee replacement.

To learn more about her options, she made an appointment with Chong H. Kim, MD, a pain medicine specialist at MetroHealth’s Spine Center. Dr. Kim noted that Sharon’s gait, or the way she walked, was being affected by the deterioration of her knee joint. Her altered gait was contributing to her lower back pain.

Much to Sharon’s relief, she learned about a nonsurgical option for her back. Dr. Kim gave her a couple of nerve blocks, or injections of an anesthetic close to the nerves in her back that were contributing to the pain.

“And, it worked,” said Sharon. “No more pain radiating down my thigh. It’s like a miracle.”

About a month after her nerve blocks, Sharon proceeded with knee replacement surgery. Today she’s enjoying being pain-free, getting around town and going out to lunch with her granddaughter. She sometimes experiences lower back discomfort when the weather changes, but it readily goes away with some extra strength Tylenol.