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Ozone Treatment for Back Pain

The back is a network of bones, muscles, ligaments, tendons and disks that act as cushions between segments of the spine. Back pain occurs if any part of the back is impacted. Ozone treatment can be used to treat back pain.

  1. Types

    • Any strain to the muscles or ligaments of the back can result in back pain, according to the Mayo Clinic. The more severe kinds of back pain are often related to structural damage of the back such as ruptured disks, sciatica (shooting pain due to bulging or herniated disks), arthritis, unnatural curvature of spine and osteoarthritis.

    Ozone Treatment

    • This minimal invasive treatment involves injecting a mixture of oxygen and ozone (an oxidizing gas that contains three atoms of oxygen) directly into the injured disk to relieve pain associated with herniated (ruptured or slipped) disks.

    Effects

    • Ozone treatment reduces the disk's volume, which in turn reduces the pressure placed on the pinched nerves, according to Kieran J. Murphy, M.D., an interventional neuroradiologist and vice chair and chief of medical imaging at the University of Toronto. The result is less pain and inflammation.

    Benefits

    • Currently, the standard procedure for treating herniated disk involves the removal of disk material. Ozone treatment is an effective and safe procedure as imaging is used to guide the injection of oxygen/ozone into injured disks, according to Dr. Murphy.

    Potential

    • Ozone treatment has been used effectively to treat herniated disks in Italy, Europe and China. Researchers at the Society of Interventional Radiology's 34th Annual Scientific Meeting predict that this procedure would become standard in the U.S. in the next few years.

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