Lower Back Pain Treatment in Lancaster, PA

Why does my lower back hurt?

Lower back pain is one of the most common reasons people see a doctor — most adults will experience it at some point. The lower (lumbar) spine carries most of your body's weight and twists and bends thousands of times a day, so its muscles, ligaments, discs, joints, and nerves all take a lifetime of strain. The challenge is that many different problems can feel similar, and lasting relief depends on treating the right one.

At Argires Specialty Group in Lancaster, PA, our neurosurgeons and interventional pain management physicians evaluate lower back pain together under one roof — so you get an accurate diagnosis and a coordinated plan, not a one-size-fits-all answer.

Common causes of lower back pain

Most lower back pain falls into one of a few categories:

• Muscle or ligament strain — from lifting, twisting, overuse, or deconditioning; usually improves within weeks.
• Herniated disc — disc material pressing on a nerve, often causing pain that radiates down the leg (sciatica).
• Degenerative disc disease — age-related disc wear that causes recurring stiffness and aching.
• Spinal stenosis — narrowing of the spinal canal, typically causing pain or heaviness in the legs when standing or walking.
• Arthritis of the facet or SI joints — inflamed spinal joints that ache with movement or prolonged standing.
• Vertebrogenic pain — pain arising from the vertebral endplates, treatable with the Intracept procedure.
• Compression fractures — small breaks in weakened vertebrae, more common with osteoporosis.

When to see a specialist

Most short-lived back pain improves on its own. See a spine specialist if your pain lasts more than a few weeks, keeps coming back, radiates into a leg, or comes with numbness, tingling, or weakness. Seek emergency care for loss of bladder or bowel control, numbness in the groin or inner thighs, back pain with fever, or pain following a serious fall or accident.

How we diagnose lower back pain

Diagnosis begins with a detailed history and physical exam that tests your strength, reflexes, and sensation to determine whether a nerve is involved. When imaging is needed, an MRI shows the discs and nerves in detail; X-rays or a CT scan may be used to evaluate bones and alignment. Because imaging often shows age-related changes that aren't the true pain source, our specialists correlate what the scan shows with what you actually feel — so treatment targets the real problem.

Lower back pain treatment options

The great majority of lower back pain is treated without surgery. We start conservative and escalate only if needed:

• Physical therapy & activity modification to strengthen the core and back muscles that support the spine.
• Medications to manage pain and inflammation during recovery.
• Image-guided injections — epidural steroid injections, facet joint injections, SI joint injections, and radiofrequency ablation, performed by our pain management team.
• Advanced interventional procedures — the Intracept procedure for vertebrogenic pain, Vertiflex and MILD for spinal stenosis, and kyphoplasty for compression fractures.
• Spinal cord stimulation for chronic nerve pain that hasn't responded to other treatment.
• Minimally invasive spine surgery — including microdiscectomy, decompression, and disc replacement — when there is a clear structural cause that conservative care can't fix.

Your plan is individualized and decided together after evaluation. The goal is durable relief with the least-invasive approach appropriate for your condition.

Request an appointment or call (717) 358-0800 to have your lower back pain evaluated by our spine team.