Could Your Leg Pain Be A Spine Problem?
Posted on July 14, 2008
Filed Under back pain, sciatica | Leave a Comment
Back pain can be a weird ailment. You can have a bad back and the pain is in the legs. By a bad back I mean there’s a problem with the spine that’s been identified as the cause of your problems. But back pain can actually be more like butt pain, leg pain or even foot pain. That’s because the sciatica nerve runs from the spine to the toes. Anywhere the nerve gets pinched, it’s going to send shooting pain down the length of the nerve. It’s like an electrical cord that’s been plugged into the wall.
Many times surgery seems to be the best option when pain is running down both of your legs. That indicates a problem in the lower back that starts in the spine which can be a bulging disc for example. The important thing to remember is that you have to give the spine time to heal using other treatments before you can decide if the last resort surgery is justified. It would be terrible to go through surgery on the spine only to find out you didn’t need it.
Will I Choose Back Surgery?
Posted on June 29, 2008
Filed Under back pain, spine, surgery | Leave a Comment
Time can be the best healer, but for some people the pain just won’t go away and that’s when surgery can be the answer.
Deciding whether or not to have back surgery can be a major decision. Everyone’s heard the stories about surgeries gone wrong or surgeries that don’t result in less back pain. But the fact is that surgery is probably one of the best choices for permanent pain reduction when it’s clear what is causing the pain. You don’t ever have to feel forced to choose surgery unless there’s a chance of paralysis if you don’t have it. In that case, I can’t imagine choosing to avoid surgery.
Back surgery usually does not actually cure the back pain directly, but tries to remove or treat the causes of the pain.
The good news is that by the time you decide to have surgery, you’ve probably been through a complete battery of tests and have tried numerous other approaches to relieving your back pain. That means surgery has become the last alternative and appears to be the one that will work in your situation. You are advised you to get a second opinion though, no matter how good you think your doctor may be.
The reason is because the cause of back pain can be so elusive. You certainly want to avoid surgery if it seems more like a guesswork solution.
Why Don’t We Pull the Trigger ?
Posted on June 4, 2008
Filed Under anesthetic, back pain, back pain relief, fluoroscopy, source of back pain, treatment for back pain, trigger point | Leave a Comment
One treatment for back pain is usually called a trigger point injection. A trigger point injection is where anesthetic is injected directly into muscles to relieve back pain. There can be more than one injection administered at a time. The point of the anesthetic is to deaden the area surrounding the point where the pain seems to come from.
Another type of injection is the facet injection. The facet joint is where two vertebrae meet and the joint enables you to use your spine for motion. The facet injection usually is a steroid, but it can be an anesthetic too like the trigger point injection. The difference is the facet injection is done on an outpatient basis using fluoroscopy. Fluoroscopy enables the physician to watch where the injection is reaching in the joint. You can only get temporary relief from pain of course. Both injections are just treatments and not cures.
Muscle relaxing
Posted on May 5, 2008
Filed Under back pain, back pain relief, muscle relaxants | Leave a Comment
A common medication prescription given for back pain is for muscle relaxants. Muscle relaxants work well when your muscles are so tense they cause back pain. What I didn’t realize is that science doesn’t know for sure how muscle relaxants work on the muscles. They just know they can calm your nerves and make your brain send nice messages to your muscles instead of tense messages.
The problem with muscle relaxants is they can be addicting if you take them too long. In essence they make you feel good and who doesn’t like feeling good? If your back pain has been due to tense muscles causing muscle spasms, the muscle relaxants can help you learn to relax long enough for the muscles to calm down. But you shouldn’t take this medication for longer than 2 or 3 weeks. They don’t “cure” anything and you should learn to relax without drugs. Muscle relaxants are just a way to get some temporary relief.
Who wants electrical treatment for back pain?
Posted on April 27, 2008
Filed Under back ache, back pain, back pain relief, back pain therapy, electrical stimulation | Leave a Comment
When I think of electrical stimulation I can’t help but think of the old Frankenstein movies. Yet electrical stimulation is used as one of the treatments for back therapy. Of course, it’s been given a long medical name which is Transcutaneous Electrical Nerve Stimulation or TENS. It makes me want to ask which came first - the acronym or the name.
This is how TENS works. A physical therapist uses special medical equipment that can dish up low level electricity directed to the muscle through electrodes on the skin. The whole point of the treatment is to make your brain forget about pain for a while and think about the electrical stimulation. This can be a great temporary solution, but it won’t last. It’s good for those people who really need a break from the pain, but don’t consider it an answer to your back pain problems.
Special Brain Delivery
Posted on April 19, 2008
Filed Under back ache, back muscles, back pain, back pain relief, back pain therapy, massage, muscle spasms | Leave a Comment
Massages are a great way to deal with back pain that’s caused by sore or stiff muscles. A good massage therapist can use a variety of techniques to relax tight muscles around the spine. Tight or strained muscles can be the cause of many back aches and muscle spasms. A massage can soothe the tension right out of the muscles and spine. In fact, much of what a chiropractor does during back therapy has massage elements.
A massage plays another important role in back pain therapy. It makes you feel mentally relaxed in addition to physically better. The doctors now believe that many cases of back pain are caused or worsened by mental anxiety. Your brain sends messages down your spine telling your muscles to tense and your nerves to hurt. A massage can make you feel calmer so the brain sends a very special delivery – one of peace and calm. That sounds very good to me.
Who wants an MRI?
Posted on April 10, 2008
Filed Under back pain, source of back pain, spine | Leave a Comment
It seems like every time I watch the news concerning healthy living updates I hear the acronym MRI. It’s treated in people’s mind like it’s an X-ray, but it really is something completely different. People with back pain often get an MRI when the doctor is trying to figure out what’s causing the problem. An MRI shows a lot more than an X-ray.
MRI actually stands for Magnetic Resonance Imaging. It uses radio waves and a magnetic field to create a clear picture of your spine. Some people don’t like to get an MRI, because you have to lie still in a long tube that’s open at both ends. It can be hard to handle if you have any claustrophobia. The newer machines are now made with some added features such as music intended to be distracting. The MRI can be a real important test when trying to diagnose the source of back pain. If the doctor wants you to have one, you should agree because it gives a lot more information about soft tissue which doesn’t show up on X-rays.
The pain never stops
Posted on April 6, 2008
Filed Under Chronic back pain, back pain, back pain syndrome, chronic back pain syndrome | Leave a Comment
There are a lot of people who have back pain that just never stops. It can make almost every movement difficult and is called chronic back pain syndrome. A syndrome is a group of symptoms that appear at the same time and indicate a problem exists. When you have chronic back pain syndrome, it means you have pain even after it seems everything has healed.
The medical community is doing a lot of current research in this area. If you have no physical reason for the pain then what is causing it? Well, the theory is that your psychological state of mind may be contributing to your pain. If you live with constant stress and anxiety, it can cause your muscles to tighten and reduce blood flow for example. Dealing with the problem usually involves exercise and counseling. There’s really nothing physical the doctor can order for treatment. This is a greatly oversimplified explanation, but that’s chronic back syndrome in a nutshell.
Chronic back pain relief
Posted on March 31, 2008
Filed Under Chronic back pain, back muscles, back pain, back pain relief, back pain therapy | Leave a Comment
Spinal problems and back pain are the most common complaints around the world. A one hundred percent effective back pain cure has yet to be found but that does not mean that some easing of the discomfort cannot be found. The problem with pain relief medication is that it doesn’t help the cause of the problem, just merely makes it a little more bearable.
Many people with spinal problems become addicted to the medication that relieves the back pain but this should really be the responsibility of a doctor.
The reason back problems are so common is because it is so easy to injure the spine. Large numbers of people have caused permanent damage to their backs just by sitting poorly for long periods.
However, back pain is usually caused by a lifting accident or from lifting incorrectly and it is normally the lower back that suffers. There are a number of natural back pain relief methods that mean you will not have to rely on drugs. Tense muscles in the back can be eased just by gentle stretching. This provides relief and is simple to carry out.
Some people are now discovering the benefits of reflexology. Massaging the feet in certain areas bring relief to a number of back pain sufferers. It is often successful at treating people with long term conditions. Relaxing muscles and increasing the effectiveness of the circulatory system are two other reasons to use reflexology.
The Chinese medical art of acupuncture can also be used to help bring back pain relief, something which has only been recognized a short while in the West. Traditional Chinese medicine is based on the theory that all people have this energy which flows through them called ‘chi’ or ‘qi’. Chi can become blocked but can be released by using thin needles inserted into various points on the body. Acupuncture can be used to treat almost all kinds of ailments including pain relief around the spine and studies made in acupuncture have provided results which are quite astounding.
Another ancient oriental discipline, Tai Chi, is similar to many types of Yoga but the movements are much slower and deliberate. Tai Chi is however, very gentle and easily performed by young and older people. It focuses on breathing exercises with additional stretching movements.
It would be a shame not to finish by remembering that exercise can provide back pain relief and that regular exercise is also one of the best preventative medicines available.
Exercise strengthens your back muscles
Posted on March 21, 2008
Filed Under back muscles, back pain | Leave a Comment
If your back muscles aren’t reasonably strong, they can be injured easily.
Doing something that moves or puts pressure on your back in a way that is different can strain muscles. Leaning forward to lift an object from the rear of a car trunk is a common culprit. Sometimes, just twisting when rising from a sitting position (such as when exiting a vehicle) will strain a back muscle.
These types of strains can be painful and take days to heal but usually don’t result in permanent damage.
When back pain strikes it seems like every move you make is unbearably difficult. Even if it’s not very hard labor, it still hurts. Exercise is the best way to deal with back pain that continues but is obviously not due to vertebrae or disc damage. If you don’t do some mild exercise regularly, your back muscles can become weak. Just try to lift a heavy object incorrectly and you’ll find out just how weakened your back muscles have gradually become.
There are several important back muscles. They include the latissimus dorsi which start at the middle of the spinal column and run up to the shoulders. Other back muscle include the rhomboids, supraspinatus, thoracolumbar fascia and the obliques to name some of the major ones. Any of these muscles can be injured. When you strengthen the muscles by exercising regularly, you can do your daily activities with ease. Your posture will be better and you’ll have less stress as well.