COULD THERE BE A MIRACLE JAB FOR BACK PAIN AGONY?..

Could there be a miracle jab for back pain agony? Wow, how amazing would that be!!

According to an article in The Mail on Sunday (June 20th 2021) by Jonathan Neal and Ethan Ennals there is a pain relieving jab available to back pain sufferers.

They explain that people with severe back pain are set to be given a new drug that can halt the disease in its tracks and protect us from permanent spine damage.

The drug, secukinumab, is designed to treat spondyloarthritis, an umbrella term for a number of conditions in which the immune system, for unknown reasons, turns inwards and attacks health spinal joints.

Pain in the buttoks area is often initially misdiagnosed as sciatica, a condition caused by compressed nerves in the lower back. In about half of cases, non-radiographic axial spondyloarthritis progresses to ankylosing spondylitis.

The drug, known as a biologic therapy, works by interfering with proteins produced by the immune system that cause inflammation. This then leads to long term relief.

If the classic symptoms for this disease are recognised this treatment will help many sufferes. The characteristic symptoms include back pain (tick) stiffness that’s worse with rest and better after activity (tick) waking with pain at night (tick) and stiffness in the morning (tick).

If these are something you think are suffering from then you should seek a referral to a rheumatologist straight away so they can carry out test.

The treatment involves an injection once a week for five weeks, followed by a single jab once a month from then on. It’s a costly pain relief if you are paying for it yourself with each treatment around £600 so it would roughly cost £10,000 for the first year and £7,200 a year subsequently.

I guess I need to go away and win the lottery to expect good pain relief. However, its a step in the right direction for people who are suffering and have not had any diagnosis.

Source: The Mail on Sunday