Managing your back pain can be difficult for many people. Along with general practitioners, there are many back doctors that have devoted the time to correcting more specific types of back and neck pain.
If before the end of your treatment you find yourself bouncing from back doctor to back doctor with referral after referral its is likely because many back doctors specialties overlap with each other. Seeing as it can be confusing trying to understand what the different types of back doctors can offer you for relief of your back or neck pain, lets take a look at them in more detail.
Family and General Practitioners: Most times with any health problem that is not an emergency, your first place to go is your family doctor. With the range of health problems out there, your family doctor will be well versed in many of them, including back and neck pain. If your problem is serious, your doctor will order diagnostic test, most likely refer you to a specialist and probably prescribe you medication to help with your pain.
Pediatricians: Providing treatment and diagnosis for ages that range from childhood to early adult years a pediatrician a the family doctor for your child. Just like the family doctor a pediatrician is well skilled and able to cover a wide variety of health issues including back pain.
Orthopedists: This is the back doctor that specializes in ailments of the musculoskeletal system. This includes the spine and spans from head to foot. Sciatica, ruptured disks, scoliosis or low back pain are conditions that an orthopedist may deal with on a regular basis.

ER back doctors: If you are having severe problems controlling your bladder or bowel functions and/or your legs are growing progressively weaker, it is imperative that you go to the emergency room and let them know. These are symptoms or Cauda Equine Syndrome, one of the very few life threatening back problems. Never attempt to move a person with a neck injury unless failure to do so would result in a life threatening circumstance, call 911.

Neurologists: This back doctor diagnoses and treats conditions related to your nervous system. This profession is focused on people who have suffered from a stroke or have Parkinson's and related brain diseases. If you have chronic or longstanding back pain, a neurologist is an expert at finding the source of your back pain. The function of this back doctor is also to examine your nerves and see how they are reacting in reference to you movements, reflexes, sensations and balance.

Chiropractors: These back doctors use a hands on alternative to conventional medicine. The goal is to treat your health through the effect of spinal anatomy on the functioning of the body. The chiropractor aims to remove interruptions to the flow of nerve transmissions.

Rheumatologists: A rheumatologist is a back doctor that specializes in treating musculoskeletal and arthritis related conditions. Some of the more common back conditions that are treated are spinal arthritis and spinal stenosis. These specialists also treat diseases that are related to back pain such as osteoporosis and fibromyalgia. The main job of a rheumatologist is to discover the reason behind your swelling and pain.