Back pain can hit many people for many reasons and in some cases, the pain can continue for years. The original back pain system, ice, rest, heat and pain relievers, can also be an effective way to ease pain. When these methods fail to relieve the pain, the patient is sent to a physical therapist for therapy, stretches and exercises. In more serious cases, surgery is often required to take care of the pain. Although these different treatment methods usually work for the patient, they often take months. This is time the patient can’t spare from their daily activities. There are now some new treatment methods to help sufferers get relief from their back pain.
Often, surgery is recommended to cure back pain when it may not be the only solution. Many of these newer back pain treatment methods can give much needed relief without the trauma of surgery. One case is with patients that have sciatica problems. Most of the time a person who suffers with sciatica will find that whether they have their pain treated with surgery or not, they will wind up pain free within a year. Many feel that surgery should be used as an absolute last resort when all else fails.
A back pain system for individuals with disc problems is spinal decompression. When disc problems occur, it is usually because the surrounding material separates from the disc and causes pain. Spinal decompression is a popular treatment for forcing a disc back into place with the use of decompression and suction to the spine. It addition, it also allows fresh blood to flow through the affected area, which expedites the speeding process. With the use of this new back pain treatment, patients are usually back to normal within a couple weeks as opposed to a few months or longer.
Muscle Balance Therapy
Although not new to some, the use of natural herbs, vitamins, minerals and exercises is a new back pain system. There are now alternative treatment methods, which can possibly eliminate the need for prescriptions, physical therapy or surgery. All natural supplements allow a person to feel better and since there are no negative side effects, there will be no need to miss work. Muscle balance therapy is an excellent therapy for pain relief and is a very effective back pain system.
Another new back pain treatment some patients are trying is Botox treatments. When Botox is used, it acts like poison and kills the signals the nerves are sending to the muscles and this can help to ease pain. After the pain is gone or lessened, the range of motion begins to increase again. There is not a lot of proof of the validity of Botox as a pain treatment that should be used on a regular basis. The most beneficial lose the back pain sytem is the one that helps with your back pain relief.
Did you know that nearly 80% of people will be troubled by back pain at some stage of their lives? Almost half of all employees will take time off because of back pain in any given year. These are astonishing statistics.
While injury and illness accounts for many causes of back pain, the majority of people experience back pain without having these causes. Even some injuries, caused by lifting, bending or twisting are not caused by the action so much as the inability of the muscles to perform that action.
We live in a modern world; we have convenience food so we don’t have to prepare meals; we have convenience stores; we have access to cars and transport; we have modern lifestyles, this means that all the muscles in our bodies are not used in the proper way. The result of the modern lifestyle is imbalances in the finely-tuned network of muscles that we were supplied with.
When anything gets out of balance, problems set in. When our muscles are out of balance, the correct posture of our body is compromised, problems start to appear which eventually cause us pain. You might have been diagnosed with a crushed or herniated disc or something similar; while this is causing you pain, the real cause is the muscle imbalance that caused to disc to deteriorate over a period of time.
Your doctor can also prescribe analgesics, anti-inflammatory drugs or other medication. You may have been given a normal sheet of ‘back pain’ exercises to perform or referred to a exercise physiologist or physiotherapist. Some of these treatments may have given you a degree of relief from your back pain, but until you correct the imbalance of your muscles to improve your posture, the relief cannot be permanent.
A chiropractor cures the body holistically; that is, the body as an entire entity, not just the back pain. After thorough initial examination, the chiropractor will perform a series of adjustments by massaging and stretching muscles or gently manipulating the spine. Specific stretches or exercise may be recommended, and further adjustments may be needed. If you haven’t yet tried chiropractic treatment for your back pain, it could be a successful method for you. It is safe, non-invasive and will improve your mobility as well as ease your back pain.
You can also treat back pain by yourself. There are several back pain reliefs available. Ten minutes of gentle walking is enough to move every muscle associated with your back. Begin a new routine of walking for 10 minutes a day to help correct muscles imbalances and enhance your fitness. Form another habit of being aware of your posture through the day; draw in your abdominal muscles, stretch the back of your neck and stretch your shoulders back and down. Gradually your muscles will learn to stay in a more balanced position and your back pain will ease.
Statistics reveal that some 65 million people suffer from back pain in the United States alone. This means that a majority of Americans will suffer severe back pain on an average of once every fifteen years during adulthood. It is such a problem that it is the number two reason for all medical visits. Fortunately, only five percent of the back pain cases are severe enough to keep people from all of their daily activities.
If you ever have one of those days when you do something and all of a sudden you begin to experience severe back pain, you can help yourself considerably by applying an ice pack to the place where the pain is coming from. Apply the ice for twenty minutes at a time. This will help to decrease the inflammation in the muscles that is caused by the strain. It is important to use the ice for the first twenty-four to forty-eight hours.
Once that time period has passed, begin using heat. Heat causes the blood to move faster throughout the body, and it will help the muscles heal faster. During the same time period that you are doing the ice and heat treatments, ask a family member to massage your back with a massager.
Take off your shirt and lay flat down on your bed on your stomach. You can use the delonghi space heater to remove the chill from the room in the morning. During the massage, it helps if you can relax your back muscles. It works best if the majority of the massage is spent going over the muscles that hurt and the area right around them. Do this in the morning and at night before you go to bed.
Ibuprofeno is a great pain reliever and inflammation reducer. If you take one before bed, your muscles will relax while you sleep, and they will be less painful when you wake up the next morning. If your stomach cannot tolerate ibuprofeno, willow bark is a good natural substitute. It will kill the pain and relax the muscles.
Women who are experiencing back pain have a difficult time applying their makeup in the morning. You can cut the process considerably by using bb cream for your makeup base and foundation. Before you start, apply the ice pack to your back for twenty minutes and then have your back massage. That will help your muscles relax and make lifting your arms less painful.
Following these suggestions will bring relief for most people. It is important to see a doctor if your back pain continues. By taking x-rays the doctor can find out why your back is hurting. He can ease the pain with a local anesthetic, if necessary.
A recent study published by Boston University has determined that lumbar spinal stenosis affects 4.71% of the general population, seemingly a very low number. However, 47.2% of individuals in the 60-69 age group have lumbar spinal stenosis on their MRI scan, which is a significant number. The individuals that actually are diagnosed with severe stenosis will approach 20%. These patients with significant spinal stenosis have a 3 times higher incidence of back pain than the general population. As our population continues to live longer, spinal stenosis will certainly be a significant health problem.
Spinal stenosis is the progression of arthritis in the spine that occurs in the neck, as well as in the lower back. As we age, the cartilage in the discs of our spine will lose their ability to hold water. The water in the discs is what helps the disc move and remain flexible to bending and compression.As the discs lose their water content, they become more brittle.If the brittle cartilage breaks, the condition is called degenerative disc disease.As discs degenerate, they will begin to expand and put pressure on the spinal canal and nerve roots. This disc bulging will decrease the diameter of the spinal canal,a condition referred to as spinal stenosis. This slows the information that flows between the brain and the extremities. The arms will be affected by spinal stenosis in the neck and the legs will be affected by lower back (lumbar) spinal stenosis.
Patients with lumbar spinal stenosis will feel back pain, as well as leg pain or fatigue. Because of the fatigue in the legs, patients will have to sit frequently during walks. Lumbar spinal stenosis will also cause patients to find benches in the mall and grab the cart at the grocery store, in order to make it through their errands. Some patients may attribute their fatigue to age and as they continue to remain active later in life, this may severely limit their ability to join in their families activities. The leg fatigue can cause significant pain and cramping during activity, but dissipates when the patient sits down. The act of sitting opens the spinal canal by decreasing the curve in the lower back,which also occurs while the patient is leaning on the grocery cart.
Spinal stenosis in the neck may cause more severe symptoms.The cervical spine protects the spinal cord because it descends from the base of the brain. Because spinal stenosis in the neck puts pressure on the spinal cord, the disc pressure will cause symptoms related to the spinal cord. These include a decrease in the ability to walk as well as problems with the hands.Patients may find they tend to stumble, as it becomes harder to control the feet and legs as the disease progresses. They may also find their handwriting getting severely worse and that they have difficulty differentiating the size and feel of coins or shirt buttons.
Spinal stenosis is usually treated with physical therapy and anti-inflammatory medications. Physical therapy is intended to help position the spine and open the spinal canal. With better posture and stronger core muscles, patients may find their leg symptoms and fatigue improve. They may find they are able to walk farther or faster. Oral anti-inflammatory medications are a first-line option for improving the inflammation related to the degenerating discs. When physical therapy and oral medications no longer provide relief, injections of steroid around the discs and nerves may decrease the pain and symptoms related to the nerve pressure.Some patients are able to withstand their symptoms with a few injections per year.
When all of these efforts fail, surgery becomes an option for improving the patient’s pain. Surgery is directed toward relieving the pressure from the arthritis on the spinal canal and nerves. The mechanical pressure can only be relieved by physically removing the bone spurs or disc protrusions. The surgical procedures involve removal of bone and disc, as well as protecting the nerve roots. Fellowship-trained orthopaedic spine specialists have undergone the most intense training available in the treatment of the spine and are uniquely qualified to treat patients with spinal stenosis.
Dr. Jeffrey R. Carlson is a doctor at the Orthopaedic and Spine Center, a leading provider of Hampton Roads orthopedics services such as Hampton Roads spine surgery, Hampton Roads custom fit knee replacement, and many other services. The Orthopaedic and Spine Center can be found online at: OSC-Ortho.com