Pain Management and Pain Relief Information

Archive for the ‘Back Pain’ Category

If you think chiropractic care is limited to straightening out crooked parts of your back, think again. Chiropractic care goes well beyond getting rid or keeping away back pains. In fact, the chiropractic healthcare approach extends to maintaining body health and wellness through lifestyle adjustments as well. With fitness coaching, chiropractic therapy becomes an even more effective method of dealing with the underlying causes of some conditions while taking the individual’s well-being into account at the same time. That is why this type of chiropractic treatment has attracted many practitioners, including a number of Sydney chiropractors.

Basically the passing of knowledge, ideas, and guidelines about certain aspects of fitness by a person to another. A person undergoing fitness coaching receives wellness advice from a fitness coach who formulates a fitness program based on that person’s health and lifestyle. The plan contains exercise regimen, diet requirements, and lifestyle alterations (if needed) that a person follows. A fitness coach and a personal trainer fundamentally have the same goals for the persons they work with; however, a coach differs from a personal trainer in their approach. While a personal trainer goes directly into planning an exercise program, a fitness coach first conducts an extensive review of the client’s medical and lifestyle background. The process of coaching touches more aspects of the person’s life necessary for maintaining wellness. As such, many Sydney chiropractors are incorporating fitness coaching into their treatment protocols.

Chiropractic care providers who include fitness coaching into their treatment plan belong to a class of practitioners called wellness chiropractors. Their aim is to identify and address the primary causes of a patient’s symptoms instead of providing pain relief only. Since their approach is primarily preventative, every factor that could lead to chiropractic issues is considered. One such factor is body weight as excess pounds mean increased burden on the spine. Since weight maintenance is a fitness concern, fitness coaching is seen as an important part of this chiropractic care type. Many Sydney chiropractors specialise in wellness chiropractic care.

Fitness coaching has become a part of chiropractic treatment regimen in such a way that provides wonders to the patient. By providing this treatment program, Sydney chiropractors are giving their patients a chance to enhance or sustain their overall health. With this approach, the patients themselves become actively involved in their own treatment. Certainly, chiropractic care has gone beyond simply straightening out a patient’s spine.

Two of the most common spinal injuries involve the intervertebral discs. Commonly referred to as disc protrusion and herniated disc, many who suffer from these conditions are unclear as to the differences between them.

Spinal or intervertebral discs are a the fibrous “cushions” between the spinal vertebrae. Discs function to create flexibility of the spine while maintaining a separation between the vertebrae, thereby acting as a “shock absorber” and eliminating or easing friction between the bones. Some of the most common injuries of the spine involve the discs which are naturally susceptible to compression, tearing or bulging.

Common Symptoms

Both disc protrusion and herniated disc injuries can be painful and debilitating or alternatively have little symptomatic affect depending on the location and severity of the injury. Both conditions can worsen or lead to degeneration of the spinal column as the victim ages. Muscle weakness, loss of range of motion, arthritis and numbness in the extremities are common symptoms caused by a protruding or herniated disc.

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Disc Protrusion Versus Disc Herniation

A protruding or bulging disc occurs when the outer ring surrounding the disc tears allowing the inner disc to change shape and protrude through its fibrous barrier upon compression. Much like a slowly leaking tire, the gelatinous center of the disc enlarges upon compression and bulges through the disc’s outer wall.

A disc herniation may also be referred to as a ruptured disc. In contrast to a protruding disc, one can think of a disk which has herniated as a tire which has experienced a blow-out. Typically more sudden and painful in nature, a disc herniation can include the fragmentation and subsequent displacement of cartilage or bone in addition to leakage of the soft central disc fluid.

Both conditions can only be detected through the use of Magnetic Resonance Imaging or MRI since initially, soft tissues, not bones are involved in the injuries.

Treatment

Herniation or protrusion of the discs may both resolve with the passage of time, moderate exercise and sometimes limited bed rest. If this is not the case, victims of these conditions may suffer acute pain or nerve damage which can ultimately lead to muscle weakness, incoordination or loss of control of the bladder or bowel. If these conditions become apparent as a result of disc damage, medical treatment in the form of drug therapy and surgery may become necessary. When evaluating the necessity of these more advanced options, the probability of inflammation or muscle spasm in the muscular tissues surrounding the injury must be taken into account. Since spinal injuries are slow to heal, time may afford other possibilities for disc injury sufferers.

Have you been experiencing a funny feeling of tingling in your legs?

Does this tingling also cause you pain sometimes?

1.) Introduction

There are a great number of people living with lower back pain. Lower back pain (LBP) can extend down to the upper thighs and beyond, down to your feet and toes. The pain may not give you any warning before coming on. The onset of pain can also be sudden. You may know this all to well! The pain can also follow an injury involving your back. Many times, you may not be able to pinpoint the reasons behind the pain.

- Lower back pain, leg tingling and numbness might precede, succeed or accompany the pain. You may not be able to turn over while laying in bed either, because if you do, this may result in sharp pain. Moreover, the seemingly unconnected activities like a sneeze will accentuate the pain and so will a cough.

2.) The Tingling Sensation You Get

The tingling may subside in a few minutes and the numbness may go away too after a flare up occurs. The pain, however, may remain. It may sometimes take some weeks to recover, but the pain, while it lasts, can be unbearable. A ruptured disc, a lumber muscle strain or a herniated disc could all be reasons behind lower back pain. Pain in the spine can bring on lower back pain and leg tingling. When the pain persists and does not go away after a regimen of treatment, you might experience weakness in your upper and lower legs. If the affected person is comparatively old, the pain will be acute and the lower back pain and leg tingling will keep recurring with increasing regularity.

While it is only irritating to some to have this tingling, to most people it is more than irritating. There are a number of people who had tried to get up and lost their balance and fallen down. Lower back and a tingling leg is the culprit.

3.) Treatment

Doctors treat the condition with data collected from blood tests, x-rays (sparingly used) and scans. Medications are fine, but physical exercises can do a lot to alleviate the pain. Aerobic exercises have proved to be effective in reducing the pain, but vigorous exercises should be avoided to avoid lower leg pain and leg tingling.

Another effective form of conservative treatment is the use of a low profile back support. Back braces can help promote good posture and can also promote the healing process. When it comes to getting the support you need, it is important to work with a local, licensed orthotist. These are brace professionals that can help take the pain away if you are currently suffering.

Can deadlifts cause low back pain?

Does this exercise do more harm than good?

1.) Introduction

Deadlifts are a physical exercise that can be of great benefit to you, if you do it right. It works all the muscles in the body when accompanied by squats. Many people do this exercise enthusiastically but without proper guidance. The tragedy happens when you get low back pain from a deadlift. What you can be sure about is that if you experience pain while doing deadlift exercises, you are most probably exercising the wrong way.

2.) Technique

You can technically classify deadlifts as an exercise that involves pulling. If you do not pull without involving the hips and glutes, what you are doing in effect is placing stress on the lower back. The correct way to do the exercise is to extend the hips when you pull yourself back up. Start by using the heels to push. When you have brought the bar to your knees, push the hips to the front. This is a more safe way to do the exercise.

3.) When Lifting Any Weights, Remember This…

When lifting a weight, any weight, your spine gets the full impact of the weight. A human being will always place all the weight on the spine and cause lower back injury as a result, in many cases. Keep your back straight while you lift the barbell. Hold your upper back in a neutral position to remedy this situation.

An exaggerated lockout that results from leaning back is not good. All the arching and rounding could cause stress being put on the lower back. A repeat of this many times may bring on hernias. Keep the bar as close to you as possible, thereby giving better leverage.

4.) Supporting Your Lower Back

When it comes to protecting your back and promoting good posture in general, it is a good idea to think about a brace. These braces will promote good posture and help to stop you from doing movements that can cause you pain. If you have pain before, during or after exercising, it is time to contact your local, licensed orthotist. These individuals can get you a high quality brace support that can help to keep you health. This kind of support should not be overlooked.

Note: This is health information. When it comes to medical advice on lifting then you should primarily consult a trainer. When it comes to braces for support it is best to get medical advice from your local, licensed orthotist.

There is much hyperbole about what advantages orthopaedic chairs can give to you, endless articles go on and on about what good they can do and there’s no doubt that they are entirely beneficial but some of the claims are absurd. There’s no chance that orthopaedic chairs will end world hunger, develop a cure for cancer and solve male pattern baldness, but they can really help your back and posture. Read on to find out the REAL advantages of orthopaedic chairs and an ergonomic work place in general.

Let’s start by setting our sights in the right direction, if you have back problems an orthopaedic chair will not cure it for all time, you’re going to be better suited going to the doctors and seeing what can be done for you. What they can do however, is relieve the pain and back stress you feel while sat at work or around the home. By relieving pressure form the spine and taking the weight that would normally be placed on it and spreading it all over the chair you will feel less pain and strain.

So what can you expect from an office designed to be ergonomic? Well you can expect it to be tailored to you, creators of these kinds of workspaces understand that no two people are the same and having a “one size” fits all policy can only be damaging to the person and their reputation. For example an ergonomic desk will be height adjustable, meaning that you can fix it so that you’ll never have to have your arms too high or your arms so low that you’re forced to slouch over, this on its own will dramatically increase your comfort levels at the desk for many hours. Alongside that, an orthopaedic chair will have been specially designed to support your back in all the correct ways and will keep you upright to stop from slouching.

These two combined will provide you with a solid support for comfort, energy and productivity. After all, the less time spent yawning, stretching and refreshing yourself is all time you could be putting into the task at hand. Do what I did and turn your harmful office into one that will change your quality of life for the better, you’ll never look back on what used to be your office again.

Quality ergonomic and orthopaedic office equipment can be purchased through many quality and reputable retailers and you should always do your research before purchasing.

You know that you have poor posture and it’s because of your lifestyle mostly. Don’t worry, you’re not the only one. The fact is that with our lifestyle being a passive one, we do not get enough exercise. Sure, you may have a job that gives you plenty of exercise, such as lifting, bending, twisting, etc. That can also affect your posture. Lifting things the wrong way can seriously ruin not only your posture, but also your back.

Lifting and your posture
If you have a strenuous job that requires lots of heavy lifting, such as loading and unloading delivery trucks, warehouses, etc., you will have to learn how to lift heavy objects properly. The big problem that most people have when they lift heavy objects is that they never use their knees. That’s right, you probably do the same thing. You probably use your back to lift heavy objects, then you wonder why your Sciatica goes out and you can’t lift for a couple of days. You want to use your knees when you lift. This takes the strain off your back and you will be less likely to misalign your back.
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Learning how to lift is not the only problem that faces many people who have posture problems related to work. Many jobs that require loading and unloading delivery trucks can cause you to get into the back of the delivery truck, which may have a low ceiling. For this reason, you need to learn how to correct your posture while at work. One of the best ways to do that is by first lifting with your knees and also to be prepared to have exercises to loosen your neck muscles to avoid neck problems.

Posture and sitting correctly
The way we sit can have serious affects on our posture. There was a good reason why teachers in those good old days in school were so strict about sitting up straight. It was all for your own good. Sitting up straight is precisely what is needed to maintain your posture. Now if you have gotten lazy and find out that you have a posture problem that needs attention, the best thing you should do is to get some kind of posture brace to help you sit in the right posture position. The brace together with the right exercise can help you correct your posture properly. What the brace does is it forces you to sit straight and keep your shoulders back.

There are many programs available that can teach you how to correct your posture with both a brace and a regiment of exercise. You need to keep in mind that using your brace alone is not recommended. You should always have an exercise regime together with the brace.

Back pain is a common complaint among folks. This is a twinge felt at the back emanating from spine structures like bones and nerves. It may be a piercing sensation or a dull ache. The pain results from daily activities at work or at home. These include over-stretching, lifting, pulling or pushing incorrectly. Normal aging processes and poor sitting posture can also cause the pain. Lower back pain is most common among pregnant women. This pain also results from carrying heavy loads and prolonged standing hours.

If ignored, pains on the back can become chronic. This means that acute pains could escalate to something more serious. While acute pains last for less than a month, chronic ones extend to months. It develops over a period. There are several remedies for easing pains at the back. In finding back pain relief, the first step is establishing it its acute or chronic. The following are remedies for relieving pain at the back.

In most instances, the acute pains are easy to manage. Most people administer the remedies by themselves. One can buy painkillers to ease this pain. These mostly require no doctor’s prescription and are available over the counter. A common example of painkillers is paracetamol. This is most optional medicine for pains at the back. In case the pain does not go away after ingesting paracetamol, one can opt for ibuprofen. This is a non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drug. If pain persists, patients could go see a doctor for medical advice. The doctor may prescribe some gentle opiate-based painkillers. An example of mild opiate-based painkiller is codeine. Intake of a paracetamol or ibuprofen normally accompany intake of codeine.

Diazepam is advisable in severe cases of pain. This drug works by relaxing muscles. It has highly addiction rates. A doctor’s prescription is mandatory before its use. Typically, prescription will not exceed seven days of use. This is due to its addictive nature. The drug is very strong and its side major effect is drowsiness. Patients require taking enough rest while taking Diazepam. Establishing a balance between rest and work is equally important. This is because too much rest can slow down recovery rates. In certain instances, excessive rest aggravates the pain. Less strenuous exercises can help during recovery. They include swimming, stretching gently and walking.

If the pain is severe, the doctor may prescribe other medications. This may include Percocet or Vicodin, which are addictive if not used properly. For this reason, the prescription will not exceed a week. As wisdom dictates, prevention is better than cure. It is always a better idea to minimize chances of developing back pains. Keeping fit and eating a health meal is a good start. Regular exercise helps strengthen the muscles. Strong muscles can prevent occurrence of injuries.

When researching chairs for bad backs, you might make the assumption that there is one perfect solution. Following some simple tenets will help you to decide what’s best for you.

Often you need more than one option to help your back feel better day to day. I use a combination of chairs to offer the best solution for myself. Certainly, a high back office chair is a must. Based on your own needs, think about additional factors such as the angle of recline, degree of adjustability, etcetera.

I love my high back office chair. But I also have a kneeling chair (sometimes referred to as an ergonomic chair) to make sure I don’t get cramped up. Just as important as it is for me to switch positions and/ or chairs, I do so with the ergonomic chair, as it can be rough on the knees. That being said, I like to alternate between my “main” chair and this one. If I wake up feeling pretty decent, I’ll often use the kneeling chair to work on my posture and take stress off the ol’ posterior.

Other times, I’ll just use my high back office chair and possibly move to the kneeling chair later on. It all comes down to how I feel.

The angle of recline is also a good thing to consider when selecting chairs for bad backs. You should feel almost a weightless sensation when you lean back in your chair so that there’s no undue pressure on your back- this is similar to gravity inversion therapy in that it produces a gentle stretch in your spine.

You can actually simulate this feeling yourself by standing up and bearing your body weight on your arms so your torso isn’t affected by gravity. First thing you’ll notice is that the gentle stretching makes your back feel better.

Remember to make sure the chair is well made, right down to the arms – plastic usually doesn’t last long, not around my house anyway – go for steel arms if possible. And as simple as it may seem, take your other office furniture into account to be sure your new chair will not be a tight squeeze.

For an even better effect, any back pain sufferer will appreciate heat- you can find heated pads in upper level chairs or use a heating pad. I prefer the more adjustable nature of a simple heating pad, not to mention that it’s not real expensive.

I hope your choice of chairs for bad backs was influenced with the help of this article.

Chakras means wheel when translated from Sanskrit. Chakras involve seven power points that influence and fuel the body, make energy circulate, and create a life force called prana. The Chakras could be vertically aligned within the center of the human body, somehow closer to the spine.

Chakras could be considered as dynamic but subtle vortexes. They could balance, heal, and energize the body. There are seven major or primary chakras or energy centers in the human body. Chakras are believed to exist in the ethereal plane instead of in the physical plane. That could be the reason why modern and Western medicine has a hard time understanding and adapting the concept of chakras. Physically, chakras could be associated with your spine.

Yoga is a natural and meditative practice that could summon and arouse your chakras. In this way, yoga exercises and postures could help bring about total harmony to anyone. The practice could be tailored to work well and suitably for any individual requirements and needs. If you aim for healing conditions for back pains and other conditions, you should try performing Anusara and Hatha Yogas. The former is considered ideal for students who aim to use yoga as a potent tool to regain health and attain back issue relief. Both could also be ideal for relieving and treating Whiplash injuries.

Are you troubled by discomforting cases of back pain? You surely could not help but develop one especially after a long and tedious day of sitting in front of your computer to beat deadlines. Being stationary for many hours could also bring about the problem. Perhaps it is time you understand chakras and apply the concept as you perform meditation and yoga as you aim to relieve and overcome your very discomforting and unlikely back pain.

You can use colour to help you align with your chakras. Red – Base Chakra, Orange – Sacral Chakra, Yellow – Solar Plexus, Green – Heart Chakra, Blue – Throat Chakra, Indigo – Third Eye Chakra, Violet – Crown Chakra. If you need healing try wearing something green. Red is very passionate and can be considered as competitive. (Some of the top athletes wear something red in their wardrobe).

• Chakras below the heart are considered to be earth bound while those above the heart are considered to be ‘heaven’ bound. Spiritual people often wear the colour blue/purple. White is also considered to be of the highest realms towards the God Source.
• Glen Wood – The Yoga Teacher. Glen is a yoga expert whom loves to teach you how to lose your neck, shoulder and back pain with yoga.

Dedicated to unlocking the Real Secrets of Back Pain.

Have you injured your back, gone through rehabilitation but still experience stiffness, weakness, or chronic back pain which limit you from participating in the activities you once enjoyed doing?

Many rehabilitation programs address acute stages of the injury, to decrease swelling and pain in the injured area and to restore range of motion but they fail to provide a proper treatment program to prevent further injury and to improve any remaining symptoms like chronic pain, muscle stiffness, weakness in the mid section and the lower extremities, muscle imbalances, bad posture, and weakness and instability experienced when trying to perform certain activities that require core stability like skiing, shoveling snow, lifting, moving and carrying heavier objects etc., other traditional treatments like manual therapy, spinal manipulation and EMS relieve the symptoms but do not treat the cause.

The core or mid section of a person (below the pelvis up to the nipples) is the very foundation for virtually any activity that requires standing upright and performing a movement. The muscles of the core work together to stabilize the spine, protect it from injury and to coordinate and execute movements. The deeper muscles like the multifidus, quadratus lumborum and transverse abdominis primarily function to stabilize the spine and give it structural integrity to prevent injury during movement. The more superficial muscles like the abdominals, spinal erectors, obliques, iliopsoas and gluteals function more to initiate and execute movements of the limbs and trunk (although they can also function as stabilizers when contracting isometrically).

If the deep stabilizer muscles are weak then the spine is unstable and susceptible to injury. Once an injury occurs these muscles become even weaker because they are the closest to the site of injury and this makes the spine even more unstable and more susceptible to injury. The larger more superficial muscles have to work harder to compensate for the lack of stability. This causes a muscle imbalance: some muscles become tight and some muscles become weak.

If there is any structural abnormality such as a deformed spine, scar tissue, muscle imbalance, or compression of the vertebrae then a client’s functional capacity (the ability to perform certain activities) will be significantly affected and there will be residual symptoms such as chronic back pain, stiffness, and weakness. You may not be able to restore the spine to its previous uninjured condition but you can strengthen the stabilizer muscles to give the spine more stability which reduces compression and shear forces, protects against further injury and unburdens the more superficial muscles thus restoring balance to the system. Strengthening these stabilizer muscles should improve the residual symptoms because weak stabilizer muscles are the broken links in the chain and are essential for keeping a healthy back.

To illustrate this with an example, a client of mine herniated a disc 10 years ago shoveling snow. He underwent traditional rehabilitation but continued to suffer from low back pain, weakness in the core and lower extremities, as well as stiff muscles in the lower back. His lower back posture was flat with little lordosis (spinal curvature) and he had a limited ability to hyperextend. He made regular visits to his chiropractor for traditional treatments such as adjustments, interference current and soft tissue work. This offered some relief but the relief was temporary and his symptoms persisted. He also engaged in a rigorous stretching regiment because his lower back was always tight but this also failed to provide proper relief. I tried my best to strengthen his core using various traditional exercises that target the superficial muscle like the abdominals, spinal erectors and the obliques. Although he did make some progress in functional strength (i.e being able to push pull and carry) his symptoms persisted.

Another client of mine also herniated a disc although not as severely (only a slight bulge) and he developed chronic pain on the left side of his hip which spread to his lower back. When I did an assessment on him I discovered that he had lower crossed syndrome (a common muscle imbalance).

Each person’s symptoms, the cause of those symptoms, and any currently present structural abnormalities depend on several factors like site of injury, nature of injury, posture, preexisting muscle imbalance, weight and age. These factors interact in complex ways to produce symptoms and structural abnormalities that are unique to each person. For example a person with a posterior lumbar disc herniation can either have lordosis (a hyper-extended spine) or a flat back with minimal lumbar extension (as in the case of my first example). The etiology of any musculoskeletal disorder is very complex because it is dependent on many factors. However, whatever the cause is, chronic back pain can be significantly reduced and re-injury can be prevented by a properly designed spinal stabilization program because spinal instability is at the root.