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There are 5 main causes of lower back pain; facet joints, sacroiliac joints, hips, discs, and nerves. It would be nice if they had their own specific symptoms but unfortunately, they don’t. Techniques and methods for diagnosis and treatment vary almost as much as the causes for the pain itself.
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Neck pain is associated with muscle tightness and spasm that responds well to massage and manipulation, but the pain soon returns. It arises from multiple causes but the 3 main causes are facet joint arthritis, degenerative discs and nerve compression. The muscle spasm makes it tricky to diagnose but with a detailed approach there are a number of solutions that provide effective, longer-term relief.
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Persistent joint pain is commonly achy, sharp, dull, a pressure, or throbbing. Joints can click and clunk; if inflamed, they can be stiff and sore, particularly in the morning, and muscles become tight trying to protect them, creating a whole new pain of their own. Joint pain is complicated and very individual, with pain arising from many structures in and out of them. This understanding dramatically aids in diagnosing difficult pain and, for those suffering the pain, to reconcile why the pain may not have responded to a single treatment such as cortisone or an operation.
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Neuropathic pain arises from nerves and produces multiple symptoms, including burning, pins and needles, numbness, itching, crawling, electric shocks, painful cold and squeezing. Additionally, as we see in joint pain, a deep ache complicates how it feels, making diagnosing it more challenging. Neuropathic pain can come on randomly and is commonly wildly disproportionate, producing a large amount of pain with seemingly minimal or no injury. It can co-exist with joint pain or “body part” pain, and to add to it, it produces a strong emotional response, bringing unexplained, baffling tears to the most stoic of people.
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Persistent post-surgical pain is the most common post-surgical complication. We like to think it doesn't happen a lot, however, we see it after 20% of operations. So, if you have pain after a procedure, you are not alone. It occurs for multiple reasons varying from pain syndromes to just having had to have numerous operations. To manage it requires identifying the neuropathic components, excluding any structures that may still be driving the pain, and dealing with the emotional side, as if it hasn't made you sad, angry or annoyed; you are the exception to the rule.
Sports and Exercise Medicine Specialist
Bachelor of Science with Honours (BSc (HONS))
Bachelor of Medicine (B.Med)
Fellow of the Australian College of Sports and Exercise Medicine (FACSEM)
Dan is a Sports and Exercise Medicine Specialist. His new clinic “Back, Neck and Joint”, is in Melbourne, Australia. He is the former managing director at Metro Pain Group, Monash Clinical Research, and the board chairman of Monash House Private Hospital. Dan works full-time with people suffering from back, neck and joint pain (thus the clinic name). Prior to this he has worked extensively in Sports Medicine and for multiple professional and national sporting teams. He was the head doctor at Australian Football League teams Melbourne and North Melbourne.
He got interested in chronic pain because of his personal experience with his mum, who has had 4 spinal operations and a lifetime of pain. He also became interested as his waiting lists grew. It meant that anyone that was able to wait, was suffering chronic pain. Once that happened, he needed some new solutions to care for his patients.
His research career has been broad, covering exercise-induced asthma, examination techniques, biologics, osteoarthritis, chronic pain, and neuromodulation. He lectures nationally and internationally regularly, has three kids, and has the world's most tolerant wife.
Dr. Dan Bates
“Pain is a thief. take back what’s yours.”
— DR. DAN BATES
Dan’s approach
“If you have had pain for a long time, undoubtedly someone has said “You just need to do some exercise and lose some weight”. But most people can’t exercise because of their pain and can’t lose weight because they can’t do any exercise. Dan combines his interventional skill base with his sports and exercise medicine to identify and treat the pain wherever possible, get people exercising and then encourage some weight loss.”
— Dr. Dan Bates
LocationS
METRO PAIN GROUP
(CONSULTING)
Ground Floor
Monash House Private Hospital
271 Clayton Rd, Clayton VIC 3168
+61 3 9595 6111
metropain.com.au
MONASH HOUSE PRIVATE HOSPITAL
(SURGICAL PROCEDURES)
271 Clayton Rd
Clayton VIC 3168
+61 3 8394 0700
monashhouseprivatehospital.com.au
BACK, NECK AND JOINT
(CONSULTING)
Suite 1, 310 Whitehorse Road
Balwyn, VIC 3103
Opposite Anytime Fitness
+61 3 9854 4000
backneckandjoint.com.au