Archive for June 2010
Simple Steps To Prevent Lower Back Pain
Back pain is one of the topmost problems world over. It might seem that it is just a minor pain in your back, but it is very much capable of throwing one’s life out of gear. Some of us have physically demanding jobs that involve working in one posture for long hours. And then when most of us reach home, we are just too tired to do anything except take the remote and watch television until it is dinner time. After dinner it is bedtime, and the day ends. That’s the reason why back pain has got to do more with the lifestyle and wrong postures than with anything else.
The commonest back pain is the lower back pain. In most of the cases, if the back pain has not reached chronic state, it can be entirely done away with. What works best is understanding the causes and taking due care so as to give no reason for your lower back to complain.
The people who lift heavy weights regularly are the ones most susceptible to lower back pain. This is due to the very nature of their work. However, this does not mean that there is no way to avoid it. It can very well be avoided if the weight is lifted properly with your legs bearing the major part of the weight. Do not just stoop and lift the weight. Bend your legs and lower your entire body in a squat, hold the object and rise. This way your back would not strain under the load.
Bad posture is another important reason. Those who slouch are very likely to have lower back problems. Therefore, practice standing erect with your shoulders square. When you sit on a couch, avoid sliding down with your neck resting on the back of the couch. You might find it relaxing but this may cause back problem soon enough.
Stress is considered to be one of the major reasons for back pain. Therefore, try to keep yourself as far away from stress as you can and do not deprive your body of Sleep, as that, too, may cause back pain.
Finally, keep your diet healthy avoiding junk food and squeeze in regular exercise in your busy schedule. If you follow the tips above, back pain would soon be a part of your personal history.
Ashish Jain
http://www.articlesbase.com/medicine-articles/simple-steps-to-prevent-lower-back-pain-120463.html
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Back Pain During Pregnancy: 6 Tips For Pregnant Women
Pregnancy brings back pain in many cases. So much so that it has been found to affect as many as 50 % of all pregnant women, which is quite a sizeable number. Here are a few tips that can help you have Pregnancy free of back pain.
1.Since back pain during Pregnancy is the result of changing shape of the body and increased body weight that the spine has to support, it is important that you keep the posture right and use a belt to support the belly. So, no slouching any more.
2.Sometimes urinary infection also causes back pain. So, if the back pain is acute and it is the early stage of Pregnancy, you must visit a doctor so that if there is a urinary infection, it could be taken care of at the earliest.
3.One thing that you must avoid as far as you can and littler farther is medication. There is an additional responsibility of the well being of your child on you. Therefore, do not resort to medication unless absolutely necessary and never without consulting a doctor.
4.Exercising has been found to be a great natural remedy for back pain. You are not required to strain yourself. Just perform moderate exercises meant for pregnant women. Consult your doctor in this regard and he or she will be able to help you make a list of exercises that would suit you depending upon the stage of pregnancy. Do not, however, go on for a rigorous exercise regimen because that may do more harm than good.
5.Another thing, you are not supposed to stand for extended periods of time because due to the additional weight you are carrying, it puts extra pressure on your spine and may thus result in back pain. Therefore, avoid working in the kitchen for long hours. If you have to work, keep taking short breaks frequently.
6.High heels have to be shunned at all the costs because they play havoc with the posture and strains the back.
Take good care of yourself and back pain would not come anywhere near you during pregnancy. A child is a great responsibility and you are supposed to shoulder it months before he or she actually steps into the world.
Ashish Jain
http://www.articlesbase.com/women’s-issues-articles/back-pain-during-pregnancy-6-tips-for-pregnant-women-120508.html
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How To Treat Upper Back Pain
Upper Back Pain is primarily a result of irritation of muscles and while it is not as common as lower Back pain, it can be very painful and restrictive.
Many people are suffering upper back pain caused by work conditions, and poor posture and Stress are often the cause.
Here’s a quick test. Next time you are at your computer just pause for a second and take note of your posture. Chances are your shoulders are hunched and you are leaning forward.
Now sit with your back straight. Even better get a chair that allows you to sit comfortably with your back in it. See how different your posture is now?
Try to pay attention to your posture on a regular basis. You’ll be surprised how often you catch yourself in the wrong position, but are able to self-correct and help your back.
You might on occasion find yourself waking up with upper back pain. If it’s a common occurrence, chances are that it’s your pillow that’s at fault.
When you first get a pillow, you head is a couple of inches off the mattress. But over time, the pillow gets flattened, and your head may only be half an inch off the mattress. This shift in position could be what’s making you more susceptible to upper back pain.
Aggressive treatment for upper back pain
A great way to treat upper back pain, especially throbbing upper back pain, is icing. Ice your upper back 3-4 times per day for 10 – 15 minutes, for two days.
Talk with your doctor about anti-inflammatory medicine such as ibuprofen. My experience has been that the doctor will advise a stronger dosage than what’s on the label and that can accelerate your recovery.
Exercises for upper back pain
If your pain is bad and lasts for a few days, go and see your doctor. Chances are that he will start you on exercises for your upper back to help recover from injury. Exercises that are often recommended include the following which should only be done after being advised by your doctor:
1.Standing in the corner of a room, about two feet or so from the wall. Put your hands on the walls at chest height. Then lean in to the corner until your shoulders are level with your hands. You will feel the stretch across your upper back and shoulders. Hold it for 10 to 15 seconds. Don’t lean in past your shoulders though since this can cause injury.
2.Stand or sit up straight. Now pull back your shoulder blades so that it feels that you are trying to touch them. Feel the stretch across your chest and shoulders.
Don’t try and rush your recovery from upper back pain. Follow your doctor or physiotherapist’s advice and you’ll increase your chances of being pain free sooner rather than later.
Frank Thornton
http://www.articlesbase.com/medicine-articles/how-to-treat-upper-back-pain-119980.html
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Back Pain Treatment
Back pain Treatment is a huge and profitable industry within the healthcare system. Back pain is an epidemic condition which affects the lives of countless souls. Treatment for chronic back pain demonstrates some of the worst curative results in modern medicine and is also perhaps the most unenlightened and misguided of all healthcare specialties.
Back pain is traditionally treated by orthopedists and chiropractors, although many other care providers have gotten in on the action, as well. Rheumatologists, neurologists, orthopedic surgeons, neurosurgeons, massage therapists, physical therapists, reiki practitioners, Bowen therapists, Alexander therapy practitioners, herbalists, doctors of traditional Chinese medicine, osteopaths, physiatrists, acupuncturists, pain specialists, fitness trainers, psychologists, psychiatrists, nutritionists, alternative medicine providers, yoga instructors and orthotic makers are among many of the specialists who have profited greatly from the dorsopathic suffering of others.
There is certainly nothing wrong with wanting to help a person cure their pain and there is also nothing wrong with profiting from your good work. However, the back pain industry is paid far too well for a healthcare specialty which seems to rarely score a bullseye when it comes to accurate diagnosis and successful Treatment. In fact, most care providers are lucky to even hit the target at all, since many therapy options are ill conceived, poorly executed and not even indicated for the diagnosis, given of course that the diagnosis is correct to begin with…
Statistics for back pain Treatment are alarming. Chronic symptoms are reported in back pain patients more than any other type of health complaint. Up to 85% of adults will have moderate to severe back pain at some point in their lives. Back pain is the second most common reason for a person to visit a doctor or emergency room. Back pain is also the primary excuse given for worker absenteeism. Back pain sufferers, whose symptoms do not resolve within 6 months of treatment, have a better chance of agonizing for the rest of their lives, than they have of ever finding a permanent cure. These stats are simply unacceptable, considering the vast amount of care providers and resources available to back pain patients. So what is wrong with the system and more importantly, how can it be fixed?
Back pain is typically viewed as being sourced from a defect, deficiency or injury to the spine or one of its supportive tissues. This is typically called structural or mechanical pain, meaning there is a physical reason for the symptoms relating to an anatomical condition. The Cartesian philosophy embraced by most modern medical providers is the single more damaging influence on back pain treatment statistics. It has been well established by an ever growing number of respected medical research projects, clinical studies and therapy programs, that back pain, or any chronic pain, is far more often the direct result of the complex interactions between the emotional mind and the body. Being that most back pain care givers do not address this basic fact explains why so many treatment options fail miserably. After all, these treatments are trying to cure a physical structural condition, while all along, the pain is either completely psychogenic or psychosomatically worsened or perpetuated.
In order to fix this great injustice and end the seemingly endless suffering of back pain patients the world over, a paradigm shift in care must occur. Doctors must stop blaming purely coincidental and generally asymptomatic structural concerns and start acknowledging the common link between ongoing pain and the emotional mind. In essence, doctors must stop treating the human body like it was some sort of complicated machine and start treating human beings for what they truly are…People who live with the constant and ever-present interactions between body and mind, creating all conditions of health and disease.
Sensei Adam Rostocki
http://www.articlesbase.com/diseases-and-conditions-articles/back-pain-treatment-722398.html
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Your Everyday Activities are Contributing to Your Back Pain Pilates Can Help
Hunching, bending, and slouching are just a couple of bad habits we have acquired over the years. Usually begin in childhood and follow us into adulthood, where the problems tend to arise. Unfortunately, many of us are unaware of these bad habits, which makes most of us likely candidates for back pain. You do not have to have a health condition to have chronic back pain. Not even have to be seniors. Back pain can strike anytime, any age.
The people working behind a desk for life may not realize it, but they are doing much damage to their backs by slouching. As indicated above, people tend to do it unconsciously. Over time, an accumulation of stress and tension is applied, and the damage is done. Other cases in the daily activities that damage when the back is us. Slouching when standing without holding your shoulders down and back in a relaxed fashion can put a lot of stress on the back and neck. Another activity in which damage to the rear is possible is when the dream. A bad mattress can damage the spine of the natural alignment, which can result in back pain. You might also feel pain in the neck and shoulders when sleeping on a bad mattress.
When your back is damaged, you may not feel in the beginning, so they continue to practice the same activities that we always have, without corrections. Pilates exercises and were intended to correct the alignment of the spine. This type of exercise consists of a series of small, efficient, and powerful movements that strengthen the muscles that have been undone in the ebb and flow of daily activities. You will be able to tighten and tone the buttocks, abdominal muscles, back and muscles, increasing your body’s strength.
At some point in most of the lives of people who suffer some form of back discomfort. It is inevitable. We are accustomed to slouching and poor posture habits, and catch up with us. In severe cases, the discs are herniated, and sometimes may develop arthritis. The alignment is crooked, and all bodily functions are put off. Talk about pain! Stiffness, numbness, tingling, and burning are just some of the very real feelings that people live with suffering from back pain. Frequent doctor’s visits are a very common reality for a lot of people too. How to get rushed to the emergency room is also very common in the world of terrible back pain.
Pilates and stretching techniques can help to correct even the worst back problems. Once the force and restore alignment, everything else follows. Ultimately, you are more aware and conscious of their position, and much more knowledge on how to alleviate signs of back pain. Through Pilates, no more drugs, doctor visits, or annoying bouts of pain. Only an effort at self healthy, natural alignment.
Yvonne Corilla
http://www.articlesbase.com/wellness-articles/your-everyday-activities-are-contributing-to-your-back-pain-Pilates-can-help-1075264.html
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