Posts Tagged ‘Spinal Cord’
What Are The Causes Of Back Pain?
The spinal column may be divided broadly into two main sections. The thoracic or upper spine helps protect the organs that it covers and facilitates the different postures that we adopt. The lumbar or the lower half of the spine is responsible for movement, as is the neck.
Everyone, some more than others, has experienced back pain at some point in his life. The causes for back pain are many. Most people suffer from lower back pain and though upper back pain is not as common, it does occur.
The lower back is susceptible to injuries, as complaints from those who suffer a backache testify. The lumbar region is prone to discs being displaced. Discs degenerate with age and sometimes the spinal column narrows abnormally.
Backache in the upper portion of the back is the result of aberrations or damage to the thoracic backbone. Pain could be caused by irritation of the fibrous tissue between the muscles and due to the malfunctioning of joints. A deterioration of the discs in the upper back may instigate such a complaint as well. These problems often go unnoticed by those who suffer from pain in the upper region of the back, since there is restricted movement in this part of the spinal cord. For the same reason, the upper back is not as prone to injury as the lower portion. It is firmer from not being subjected to great mobility.
The main cause for upper back pain is defective posture. People who regularly work at computers are liable to develop upper backache. This kind of pain often exists in conjunction with pain in the neck and shoulder. Trauma after an accident where the upper vertebrae are injured can cause intense pain. This is not common. However if the case arises, rush the individual to a doctor. The earlier tests are run to assess the damage, the sooner can the treatment begin.
If a joint malfunctions or an irritation caused by the muscles brings pain, there are ways to combat the discomfort and ease the excruciating pain some may be racked with. Exercising everyday may lessen the pain. Physiotherapy sessions might cure the condition as well. An osteopath could alleviate the pain by chiropractic manipulation of the spine. Massages by reputed practitioners, especially deep massages to treat the condition, could bring some much-needed relief. Acupuncture, an alternative gaining in popularity could be your answer. A doctor may choose to inject local anesthesia into the points that trigger off the pain. Chemists may sell medicines that bring relief. The most common antidote would be drugs prescribed by your doctor.
If you have a persistent backache, don’t neglect it. It is better to get to the root of the cause. Once that has been established, you can follow it up with the right treatment, depending on the severity your case.
Stephen Madsen
http://www.articlesbase.com/health-articles/what-are-the-causes-of-back-pain-87319.html
Causes And Remedies Of Back Pain During Pregnancy
Pregnancy is a very crucial time period in the life of a woman. It is a joyous period but at the same time it can become a source of worry and uncertainty. Several changes occur in the body of a woman during pregnancy. Most of these changes have a direct or indirect effect on the spinal cord of the woman, which can later turn in to mild or severe back pain.
Both lumbar and posterior pelvic pain can occur in a woman after pregnancy. Many people believe back pain is a normal phenomenon during and after pregnancy. Wherein it is not. There are certain factors that cause pain in the back of a woman after delivering the baby. They are:
Weight gain: A woman can gain as much as a quarter of weight in her body during pregnancy. This kind of tremendous weight gain stresses the back of the expecting mother.
Change in the center of gravity: The weight that you have gained during pregnancy is carried in the front and the back portion of your trunk. This development leads to the change in the center of gravity in a pregnant woman.
Imbalance in the muscle: With the change in the center of gravity, there also occurs a muscular imbalance in the body. This imbalance in the body creates strain, especially on the back.
Fatigued Muscles: During pregnancy the muscles tend to fatigue soon. This results in poor postures of the body.
Hormonal surges: The hormones produced during pregnancy can create laxity in the pelvis. This hormone surge coupled with a change in the center of gravity gives rise to a decreased joint support.
Apart from these there are several other activities that can increase your back pain at the time of pregnancy. These activities create a pressure or load on the spine with the pelvis and hips. Some of these activities are walking, running, rolling on the bed, twisting, lifting heavy objects, bending forward and climbing stairs.
So to do away with your back pain problem, you need to follow a conservative management program. This conservative management effort should include appropriate exercises and the use of proper medications. All these efforts will promote and support your proper posture.
Apart from this, it is also important for you to pay regular visits to your physical therapist in case of prolonged and severe pain.
Always remember, back pain is common place during pregnancy but it should not be taken as a necessary part of it. Try to make your pregnancy as pleasant as possible. This will facilitate in easier delivery of the baby. So address your back pain as quickly as possible.
Ashish Jain
http://www.articlesbase.com/women’s-issues-articles/causes-and-remedies-of-back-pain-during-pregnancy-100071.html
Spinal Cord Injury is not the Same as a Back Injury
Unlike a back injury such as a ruptured disk, spinal stenosis or pinched nerves, a Spinal Cord injury can cause a loss of function to other parts of the body. Spinal cord damage can cause the loss of mobility, feelings and the ability to get around on ones own.
Los Angeles spinal cord injury attorneys will tell you that the severing of the spinal cord does not have to happen for this loss of functioning to occur. In a lot of people, the spinal cord is still intact but they still lose their mobility. However, people can experience a broken back and still not suffer spinal cord injury. In these cases only the vertebrae around the spinal cord are damaged and not the spinal cord itself. Once these injuries are stabilized no paralysis will experienced by the injured person.
In the case of a spinal cord injury, the damage that is done causes damage to the white matter, also known as fiber tracts that carry motor signals and sensations to the brain and back. If there is damage to the gray matter that is in the middle of the spinal cord, a loss of feelings and mobility occurs.
Things that can cause spinal cord damage are car accidents, falls, gunshot wounds, war injuries etc. Tumors, blood clots, spina bifida, multiple sclerosis and other diseases may cause spinal cord damage also. Most serious car accidents involve spinal cord injuries and will typically require the assistance of a motor vehicle accident attorney who deals with doctors and health care providers.
Once you have been in a car accident, or motorcycle accident, the first thing you need to do after the hospital is get an experienced legal counselor.
Michael Ehline
http://www.articlesbase.com/personal-injury-articles/spinal-cord-injury-is-not-the-same-as-a-back-injury-494681.html
Slip Disc – Treating Without Surgery (ayurveda)
The discs are protective shock-absorbing pads between the bones of the spine. Although they do not actually “slip,” a disc may split or rupture. This can cause the disc to fail, allowing the gel to escape into the surrounding tissue. The leaking jellylike substance can place pressure on the spinal cord or on a single nerve fiber and cause pain either around the damaged disc or anywhere along the area controlled by that nerve. This condition is also known as a herniated, ruptured, prolapsed, or, more commonly, slipped disc.
Slip disc or Spinal disc herniation can occur in any disc in the spine, but the two most common forms are the cervical disc herniation and the lumbar disc herniation.
Factors that lead to slipped disc include aging with associated degeneration and loss of elasticity of the discs and supporting structures; Poor posture combined with the habitual use of incorrect body mechanics, hard physical labour (delivery), improper lifting, especially if accompanied by twisting or turning; excessive strain, and sudden forceful trauma. A herniation may develop suddenly or gradually over weeks or months.
People between the ages of 30 and 50 appear to be vulnerable because the elasticity and water content of the nucleus decreases with age. But of late it is seen that even the people around age group 20 – 30 are also getting affected with slip disc, because of their life style and diet habits.
A slipped disc can be symptom free. If it causes pain, it is primarily due to the pressure on the nerve roots, the spinal cord or the cauda equina.
A herniated disc can therefore produce symptoms anywhere along the course of that nerve, though the injury and irritation of the nerve are at the spine itself (referred pain). A slipped disc can produce different symptoms like varying degrees of pain in the back or neck along with numbness or weakness, tingling, Paralysis of single muscles, possibly with pain radiating to the arms or legs, paralysis in the part of the body below the spinal cord pressure, disturbance of feeling in the limbs, muscle spasms, difficulty controlling bowel movements or bladder function, disturbance of feeling in the rectum and the inside of the thighs etc,.
The strength of Ayurveda in the area of spine and joint treatments is globally appreciated. Since it addresses the root cause of the issue the results are fantastic.
CHARAKA offers a very effective treatment methodology based on the classical texts of Ayurveda. The treatment comprises of Detoxification, rejuvenation through Ayurvedic Panchakarma therapy, administration of researched medicines internally.
The therapies like Abyanga swedam, Nasyam, Pathrapotala swedam, Choornapinda swedam, Pizhichil, Shirodhara, Kadeevasthy, Greevavasthy, Navarakizhi, Vasti etc. are done as per the necessity and condition. These therapies are directed towards relieving the inflammatory changes, releasing the spasms and nerve compressions in the affected area, strengthening the supportive tissues holding the spine/joints, nourishing the joints through improving the circulation. Usually the treatment period is 3 – 5 weeks according to the severity of the disease.
In four to six weeks, the majority of patients find their symptoms are relieved without surgery. If patient can come for the treatment in early stages, even total cure without recurrence is also possible.
dr m chandrashekhar
http://www.articlesbase.com/diseases-and-conditions-articles/slip-disc-treating-without-surgery-ayurveda-683132.html
Information on Back Pain – Keeping your Back Straight
Your back is a vital body part. It plays an essential role in every part of daily life. Since the back is so important, you want to keep up-to-date on information about back pain and its treatment.
Begin with this basic information.
Information on Back Pain #1 – What Is Your Back?
back pain can best be understood when you understand the structure of your back, so let’s build a spine. Your back consists of 30 small bones called vertebrae. These bones are stacked on top of each other, and connected by ligaments, tendons, and muscles. Your stack of connected vertebrae is divided into four regions. From the base of your skull down to your pelvis, these four regions are:
1. Cervical or neck vertebrae – the top 7
2. Thoracic or upper back vertebrae – the next 12
3. Lumbar or lower back vertebrae – 5 more
4. Sacrum and coccyx – 6 fused bones at the spine’s base
Between your vertebrae are round, spongy cartilage pads called disks. Disks act as shock absorbers for your spine. A column-like spinal cord runs through your stack of vertebrae. It, too, is divided into segments similar to nearby vertebrae. Your spinal cord contains nerve roots and nerve rootlets that spread out, sending messages of pain from your back to your brain.
Information on Back Pain #2 – Back Pain’s Causes
Back pain is among the most common complaints. It is also one of the most painful. Since it can be difficult to treat, it is important that you have good information on back pain. Most good information on back pain will agree that when you lift something too heavy, you may cause a sprain, pull, strain, or spasm in one of the muscles or ligaments in your back. That will cause back pain.
Let’s look at more specific information on back pain.
1. Your cervical spine, or upper back, begins at the base of your skull. It is composed of seven vertebrae with eight pairs of cervical nerves. This part of your spine is designed to support your head and give you mobility.
Injury or mild trauma to the cervical spine can cause one of a number of serious, even life-threatening medical emergencies. You might have a spinal cord injury (SCI) or a fracture. Such injury could cause pain, numbness, weakness, and tingling.
2. Your thoracic spine is just below your cervical spine. Your ribs are connected to this part of the spine. Think of it as the back of your chest. Your thoracic spine is designed to be strong and stable, permitting you to stand upright and protecting your vital internal chest organs. Although thoracic, or middle back pain is rather uncommon, it causes significant pain when it does occur.
The most common causes of middle back pain are muscular irritation and joint dysfunction. You may injure a disk, and cause middle back pain, but such injuries are very rare.
3. Your lumbar spine, or lower back region, is most likely to experience pain. This is because your lumbar region supports the weight of your upper body. It takes the most abuse.
Many things can cause injury and pain to your lower back. As with all parts of the spine, muscle strain or spasm may occur when you lift or carry things that are too heavy. Sprains of ligaments occur in similar manner. You may experience joint problems or a “slipped disk.”
The most common cause of lumbar or lower back pain, though, is simply using your back muscles for actions you usually do not do. Perhaps you sit at a desk most days, but one weekend, you help friends move furniture. Or you normally teach school, but during the summer, you decide to create a large vegetable garden in your back yard.
A so-called “slipped disk” (herniated disk) occurs when a disk, one of those spongy cartilage pads between your spines vertebrae bulges out and presses on nerves. This often occurs when you twisting while lifting something. You may not know what caused your slipped disk, if it happens. You will know the lower back pain that comes as a result.
Information on Back Pain #3 – Back Pain and Your Physician
Not every back pain will require a visit to your physician. Many back pains can be treated effectively at home with heating pads and ice packs. Over-the-counter (OTC) medications can also give the relief needed. However, there are times when you will want your physician to give information on back pain, and prescribe treatment.
Seek a qualified physician if any of the following is true:
• Your pain is so bad you can’t move around
• Your pain is not less after two weeks
• Your pain was caused by an injury
• You have a fever
• You feel nauseous or are vomiting
• You have a stomachache
• You are weak or sweating
• Your pain goes down the leg below your knee
• You lose control over going to the bathroom
• Your foot, leg, rectal, or groin area is numb
Information on Back Pain #4 – Back Pain Prevention
Your health care provider, whether physician, chiropractor or other, will encourage you to maintain an active, healthy lifestyle as part of back pain prevention. The best information on back pain they can provide you is to avoid injury in the first place. Develop healthy back habits. The following five bad habits can cause back pain. Avoid them.
• Twisting when lifting
• Bad posture
• Lack of exercise and too much weight
• Smoking tobacco
• Ignoring back pain
The more information on back pain you have, the better prepared you will be to deal with it.
Anna Hart
http://www.articlesbase.com/health-articles/information-on-back-pain-keeping-your-back-straight-94494.html
