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Archive for category Back Pain
Exercises For Relieving Back Pain
Did you know that one of the biggest reasons cited for taking sick days is back pain? It’s no surprise either. Having a bad back severely limits range of motion and makes it difficult to do just about any physical activity, even sitting down and typing on a computer! Fortunately though back pain can be alleviated with a series of exercises and stretches. If you’re willing to put in a little time and effort each day you will soon find any pain or stiffness in your back dissipating and your muscles becoming strong, fit and healthy.
I find that it’s best to split back exercises into three separate groups: alignment, stretching and loosening. Following the exercises below will only take around five minutes and should be done everyday if possible.
Alignment
The first thing you need to do to improve the condition of your back is to align all the vertebrate of your spine as best you can. There are two easy ways to do this and we are going to use both of them.
Begin by lying down flat on a hard floor surface. Move your feet towards your posterior so your legs are bent at the knees. Your back should be straight and flat, you will find there will be a small gap between the floor and your lower back. This is good. Stay in this position for about a minute.
Now stand up with your feet shoulder width apart and bend your knees ever so slightly. Turn to your left using your hips and allow your arms to go limp so they flail and gently connect against your lower back. Repeat this movement to the right, and keep repeating it from left to right, right to left.
Stretching
Now you have aligned your spine correctly it is time to stretch out those back muscles. With your legs shoulder width apart and knees bent slightly, stretch out your arms so your body resembles a star fish. Stretch your arms out for ten seconds, you should be able to feel the pull around your upper back and shoulder blades.
Next bend forward at the waist with your knees bent a little and try to touch your toes. Don’t worry if you fall short, even if it’s by a foot or so, just do the best you can. Hold this stretch again for ten seconds.
Finally go back to an upright position and lean back at the waist. You don’t have to go very far back for this one, just enough so you feel your lower back stretching. Hold this stretch for ten seconds.
Repeat all these stretches in order once more.
Loosening
Go back into the same position you were when you were trying to touch your toes, only this time do not stretch. Just allow you back to remain loose and limp. If you can, try gently bouncing your back in this position – although be careful not to use jerky movement as this can cause damage – just a slow gentle rocking. Loosen your back muscles in this way for about thirty seconds.
Stay in this position and instead of gently rocking your back, roll your shoulders. Again keep this up for thirty seconds.
You have now completed your exercises for relieving back pain!
Back Pain: Types And Symptoms
Nowadays, suffering from back pain is a very common thing. In the US, on an average 3 million people visit doctors to get treated daily. Though in most cases proper rest and exercises may heal the pain, some patients require undergoing surgery for recovery. However, recently the American Academy of Orthopedic Surgeons has strongly recommended against the popular procedure of vertebroplasty for the treatment of spinal compression fractures, which involved injecting bone cement into the spinal vertebrae. According to them the surgery fails to give the type of benefit it was previously expected to provide.
There can be different areas of occurrence for back pain. Types of pain depending upon these can be categorized into the following:
1. Radicular Lower Back Pain: This pain also known as sciatica is felt in the lower back area, legs and thighs. It is caused by compression of the lower spinal nerve or herniated disc. It may also start due to diabetes or injury to the nerve root.
Symptoms: The pain starts from the lower back and follows a specific nerve path into the thighs and legs. The pain is often deep and steady. Certain positions or activities like sitting or walking may increase the pain.
2. Axial Pain: This type is the most common one. The pain occurs only on the lower back region and other parts of the body do not get affected. This is also known as simple or mechanical back pain.
Symptoms: The degree of pain varies greatly from dull to sharp, intermittent to constant. The pain may increase with certain activities like playing tennis or sitting at a desk for prolonged period.
3. Referred Pain: It is not a common type like the previous two. The roots of this type are identical as that of simple axial back pain.
Symptoms: The referred pain is usually felt in the low back area and it radiates slowly into the groin, upper thighs and buttocks. Though the pain moves around, it does not go below the knee. The patient experiences an achy, dull pain which comes and goes often.
Lower Back Pain Causes: What Your Doctors Can’t Tell You
Lower back pain causes can be pretty confusing to a lot of people who suffer from this condition. “Do I have bulging discs?”, “Do I have arthritis?”, Or, more frightening, “Do I have cancer?” Are several of the questions that often come to mind when someone has pain in the lower back that comes on for no apparent reason.
One thing for sure is that most doctors can actually tell you if you have any of the conditions above by doing tests like x-rays or an MRI. But did you know that less than 5% of all painful low back cases are due to serious problems that require surgery or chemotherapy?
That’s right. Over 95% of lower back pain causes are because of “non-serious” conditions that don’t require surgery or other complicated medical management. That means that in most cases your doctor may send you home with a prescription for pain medication and tell you to “rest” your back until the problems decrease.
Although most doctors may realize that your pain is coming from muscle(s) strains, what they won’t be able to tell you is which muscles are strained and what you can do about them. This is because most doctors don’t have the kind of time to spend with you that will help you understand exactly what’s going on with your back.
This is why it would be beneficial for anyone with back pain to have a good understanding of how various muscles can affect your back and what to do about it when they do.
You may not be aware of it, but, many of the muscles that can really contribute to a lot of these problems aren’t located in your low back at all. Some people will give you the impression that it’s your stomach muscles that will cause a lot of back pain. But this is not 100% accurate either.
Your leg, hip, and internal pelvis muscles will all affect how your back feels and functions. Many times it’s a combination of several muscle groups that cause a sort of “domino effect” and give you the feeling that something is seriously wrong with your back and cause a lot of confusion about where your pain is actually coming from.
You may know of someone who has back pain and have gone through several of the tests to find the cause. They’ve had an MRI study done. They’ve had x-rays done. They have gone through all the lab tests. And, their doctor says that all the tests are “negative”. What this means is that the tests didn’t find anything significant that could be causing the painful problem.
This happens to 1000s of people everyday. They know that they have back pain, but their doctors tell them that they can find no reason for it. Sometimes people leave the doctor’s office feeling like the problem is “all in their heads”.
This is unfortunate because what people aren’t told is that “muscle strains” don’t show up on any test. You heard me right. You could have muscles that are tied in a huge knot and they won’t show up on any test. But many doctor’s fail to tell their patients this simple fact.
If you or someone you know have had the experience of having negative test results for your lower back discomfort, but it continues to bother you, it may be helpful if you asked your doctor about which muscles might be causing your problems. A good physical therapist could also help answer these types of questions.
Remember, over 95% of most back pain cases are due to low back pain causes that are not serious.
