A lady suffering chronic back pain after a fall, finally found relief with electric shock treatment. So goes a story on ivanhoe.com the american newswire service which caught my eye.
Not as vicious as it sounds. It involves a fine wire being inserted in the epidural space of the spinal cord through which electrical pulses are sent. Controlled by the patient via a remote control device.
These pulses effectively block the pain, reducing it to a tingle in this particular case. After months of being restricted to the bed or couch because she was unable to sit due to excruciating low back pain. The results were instantaneous.
The treatment is being used by Dr. Jerry Lewis (great name eh? I bet he gets loads of fun with that), pain medicine specialist at Baylor Plano in Plano, Texas, and so far is showing great promise.
Maybe this is something else we may have the option of over here before too long. I should imagine a lot of people could benefit from this treatment.
For full story details click here.
Monday, 30 July 2012
Sunday, 29 July 2012
Eat Ginger Daily to Ease Your Back Pain.
I don’t know about you but I do enjoy spicy food, and this study by Professor Patrick O’Connor of the University of Georgia in sciencedaily.com a few months ago piqued my interest.
Professor O’Connor made two studies examining the effects of 11 days of raw and heat-treated ginger supplementation on muscle pain. For example the kind of back pain you experience after too much exercise, like digging.
The studies revealed that the daily consumption of ginger reduced muscle pain by as much as 25%. It made no difference whether the ginger was raw or cooked.
Interesting, as it had previously been believed that heating the ginger, say by cooking, increased it's pain relieving properties.
That's quite a reduction in pain, and seems like a good case for increasing my curry intake. You can read the original report here.
Professor O’Connor made two studies examining the effects of 11 days of raw and heat-treated ginger supplementation on muscle pain. For example the kind of back pain you experience after too much exercise, like digging.
The studies revealed that the daily consumption of ginger reduced muscle pain by as much as 25%. It made no difference whether the ginger was raw or cooked.
Interesting, as it had previously been believed that heating the ginger, say by cooking, increased it's pain relieving properties.
That's quite a reduction in pain, and seems like a good case for increasing my curry intake. You can read the original report here.
Saturday, 28 July 2012
Cure Chronic Low Back Pain by Growing Your Own Discs!
Yet another tale from the realms of science fiction you might think. However there are two separate stories on this theme that I have found.
The first, more of interest to chronic back pain sufferers, in an article in The Mail online tells how Swedish researchers have been able to grow human stem cells that help a damaged disc to regenerate.
The significance of this is that disc degeneration is known to be a major cause of low back pain. However it has always been thought that once damaged, back discs cannot heal themselves.
But researcher Helena Barreto-Henriksson of Gothenburg University and her team have discovered areas in discs very similar to stem cells, which have the potential to grow back.
Initial work has shown how animals with damaged discs injected with human stem cells improved by the cartilage repairing itself.
The potential here is far-reaching. Just imagine your back pain being cured by a simple injection! No surgery, and permanently effective. This is one story worth watching.
I can also foresee a time, assuming this research leads somewhere, when many sufferers of chronic back pain wouldn't even get to that point. As soon as back discomfort was narrowed down to disc degeneration, injections could be given to heal the discs before it became a big problem.
How's that for an example of sensible research? If you have the time the full article is well worth a read, you can find it here.
On the same theme, but even more fantastic because it has actually been done, is this story from thesun.co.uk by Andrew Parker. A 33 year old lady from Rugely, Staffordshire, has had an operation where knee cartilage grown from her own cells has been put back into her knee, making a knee replacement unneccessary.The first, more of interest to chronic back pain sufferers, in an article in The Mail online tells how Swedish researchers have been able to grow human stem cells that help a damaged disc to regenerate.
The significance of this is that disc degeneration is known to be a major cause of low back pain. However it has always been thought that once damaged, back discs cannot heal themselves.
But researcher Helena Barreto-Henriksson of Gothenburg University and her team have discovered areas in discs very similar to stem cells, which have the potential to grow back.
Initial work has shown how animals with damaged discs injected with human stem cells improved by the cartilage repairing itself.
The potential here is far-reaching. Just imagine your back pain being cured by a simple injection! No surgery, and permanently effective. This is one story worth watching.
I can also foresee a time, assuming this research leads somewhere, when many sufferers of chronic back pain wouldn't even get to that point. As soon as back discomfort was narrowed down to disc degeneration, injections could be given to heal the discs before it became a big problem.
How's that for an example of sensible research? If you have the time the full article is well worth a read, you can find it here.
This is truly fantastic. I just wish this procedure had been available when I had to have my knees replaced. It’s still fairly new, and the surgeon, Ashvin Pimpalnerkar, is doing just ten of these operations a year so far.
How incredible is that? Check out the full story here.
Friday, 27 July 2012
Back pain miracle cure – or is it?
This is a bit of a strange post. My back pain, which has actually been pretty good lately, (I do try to look after it and try lots of things I discover on my researches), has been a bit niggly in the past day or two.
I’m not sure if in some way it is related to my latest attack of gout, which has been pretty painful. Today actually starting to feel better. Well enough to hobble over to the park with Winnie earlier. It’s only 5 minutes away thank goodness.
The thing is I have recently been researching oxygen therapy. I still don’t really know if it’s a load of old twaddle, although many people swear by it. The fact that Michael Jackson was a big fan doesn’t actually inspire me with confidence.
It is being promoted as a bit of a miracle cure-all. Everything from cancer (pretty bold, I’d be wary of that one) to acne, and most things in-between.
It got me thinking about my chronic back pain anyway, and apparently, apart from breathing pure oxygen, not very practical, the best way is to ingest it.
There are various methods, one using hydrogen peroxide in water. Sounds simple but you need to use the right hydrogen peroxide at the correct dose. Too complicated for me anyway.
Then I discovered ozonators. Apparently if you bubble ozone through a glass of water (not tap) you are in effect oxygenating it, and if you drink this you are providing your body cells with extra oxygen which is wonderful and cures everything!!
To cut a long story short I have purchased a home ozonator, very reasonable price, brand new off ebay, and I’m waiting for it to arrive so I can have a go and see if it does anything for my back pain and/or gout.
Watch this space and I’ll let you know how I get on. Any fellow sufferers out there who have used this as a treatment for chronic back pain, or for anything come to that, I would be delighted to receive your comments and pass them on. Contact me here.
By the way if you want to read more about oxygen healing therapies, and in particular ozonated water, I found a site which explains it better than I, click here to read what they have to say about it.
That’s all for today, have a nice pain-free one.
I’m not sure if in some way it is related to my latest attack of gout, which has been pretty painful. Today actually starting to feel better. Well enough to hobble over to the park with Winnie earlier. It’s only 5 minutes away thank goodness.
The thing is I have recently been researching oxygen therapy. I still don’t really know if it’s a load of old twaddle, although many people swear by it. The fact that Michael Jackson was a big fan doesn’t actually inspire me with confidence.
It is being promoted as a bit of a miracle cure-all. Everything from cancer (pretty bold, I’d be wary of that one) to acne, and most things in-between.
It got me thinking about my chronic back pain anyway, and apparently, apart from breathing pure oxygen, not very practical, the best way is to ingest it.
There are various methods, one using hydrogen peroxide in water. Sounds simple but you need to use the right hydrogen peroxide at the correct dose. Too complicated for me anyway.
Then I discovered ozonators. Apparently if you bubble ozone through a glass of water (not tap) you are in effect oxygenating it, and if you drink this you are providing your body cells with extra oxygen which is wonderful and cures everything!!
To cut a long story short I have purchased a home ozonator, very reasonable price, brand new off ebay, and I’m waiting for it to arrive so I can have a go and see if it does anything for my back pain and/or gout.
Watch this space and I’ll let you know how I get on. Any fellow sufferers out there who have used this as a treatment for chronic back pain, or for anything come to that, I would be delighted to receive your comments and pass them on. Contact me here.
By the way if you want to read more about oxygen healing therapies, and in particular ozonated water, I found a site which explains it better than I, click here to read what they have to say about it.
That’s all for today, have a nice pain-free one.
Thursday, 26 July 2012
Back Pain Zapped By Sound Waves.
I suppose this idea isn't exactly new. I remember years ago buying an "ultrasonic" massager for my knees. I think it was called a Novafon or something similar. I've still got it somewhere, I'll have to try and find it.
The point is it was supposed to produce sound waves which penetrated through the tissues and somehow stimulated blood-flow and promoted healing. I was a bit desperate at the time and went for it.
Wasn't bad actually as I recall. Still didn't prevent me from having my knees replaced eventually.
Sorry, getting off the point a bit. I was reminded of all this today when I chanced upon an article in The Mail Online by Roger Dobson. Sound wave therapy is now being used by Doctors as a treatment for chronic back pain.
This works by generating heat in the deep tissues, which apparently de-activates the nerves in the spine transmitting the pain.
A big benefit of this procedure for alleviating the symptoms of back pain is that it is non-invasive and cost effective compared to surgery. Although it involves the use of an MRI scanner.
the results seem pretty impressive, with an overall 62% decrease in back pain, and a 55% decrease in disability.
An interesting footnote to this article reports that scientists have discovered that spearmint tea can ease the pain of arthritis. Specifically osteoarthritis of the knees.
Pity I didn't know about that when I was going through my knee problems. Anyway, it's an interesting piece, if you want to read it all click here.
Enjoy the rest of your day, I'm now going to re-do the pointing the scaffolders made a total mess of when they removed their scaffolding. It's not ladder work, so with any luck I won't put my back out!
The point is it was supposed to produce sound waves which penetrated through the tissues and somehow stimulated blood-flow and promoted healing. I was a bit desperate at the time and went for it.
Wasn't bad actually as I recall. Still didn't prevent me from having my knees replaced eventually.
Sorry, getting off the point a bit. I was reminded of all this today when I chanced upon an article in The Mail Online by Roger Dobson. Sound wave therapy is now being used by Doctors as a treatment for chronic back pain.
This works by generating heat in the deep tissues, which apparently de-activates the nerves in the spine transmitting the pain.
A big benefit of this procedure for alleviating the symptoms of back pain is that it is non-invasive and cost effective compared to surgery. Although it involves the use of an MRI scanner.
the results seem pretty impressive, with an overall 62% decrease in back pain, and a 55% decrease in disability.
An interesting footnote to this article reports that scientists have discovered that spearmint tea can ease the pain of arthritis. Specifically osteoarthritis of the knees.
Pity I didn't know about that when I was going through my knee problems. Anyway, it's an interesting piece, if you want to read it all click here.
Enjoy the rest of your day, I'm now going to re-do the pointing the scaffolders made a total mess of when they removed their scaffolding. It's not ladder work, so with any luck I won't put my back out!
Tuesday, 24 July 2012
Is Your Chronic Lower Back Pain Genetic?
An interesting story in anesthesiologynews.com may point towards you needing the right parents to avoid lower back pain.
A study at the Henry Ford Health System in Detroit by Adam Shuster, DO, seems to show a link to the possible heritability of chronic low back pain.
A team of investigators found that, among 203 back pain patients who completed a survey, 43% reported having a first-degree relative with back pain requiring intervention.
Among those with a family history of this complaint, 20.4% had at least one child with back pain.
Although not definitive, this study could go towards understanding the high incidence of chronic lower back pain where there is no specific cause
Check out the full story here.
A study at the Henry Ford Health System in Detroit by Adam Shuster, DO, seems to show a link to the possible heritability of chronic low back pain.
A team of investigators found that, among 203 back pain patients who completed a survey, 43% reported having a first-degree relative with back pain requiring intervention.
Among those with a family history of this complaint, 20.4% had at least one child with back pain.
Although not definitive, this study could go towards understanding the high incidence of chronic lower back pain where there is no specific cause
Check out the full story here.
Monday, 23 July 2012
Back pain reduced by breathing slowly.
According to an article in sciencedaily.com, research performed at Barrow Neurological Institute at St. Joseph's Hospital and Medical Center shows that slow breathing at a controlled rate can significantly reduce the pain felt by chronic pain sufferers.
This does seem to bear out previous findings that Zen meditation and yogic breathing can have a beneficial effect on pain levels.
I suppose if you think about it we quite often instinctively do this. I know that if I have skinned a knuckle or hit a finger with a hammer, after the expletive I have often taken a deep breath, let it out slowly, maybe a couple of times.
Perhaps we should try it consciously. If you want to read the full article go here.
This does seem to bear out previous findings that Zen meditation and yogic breathing can have a beneficial effect on pain levels.
I suppose if you think about it we quite often instinctively do this. I know that if I have skinned a knuckle or hit a finger with a hammer, after the expletive I have often taken a deep breath, let it out slowly, maybe a couple of times.
Perhaps we should try it consciously. If you want to read the full article go here.
Sunday, 22 July 2012
Back pain relief in just five minutes a day!
Here are four practical exercises you can do at home, taking just five minutes a day. Presented by Lydia Sherlock on the Telegraph website, health section.
These are “core strengthening” exercises based on the Pilates system. Very easy and straightforward to follow, and you don’t need to be an olympic standard athlete already to do them.
I’ve tried them, and will certainly be incorporating them into my back pain relief regime.
Use this link to get them, print them out for convenience and have a go.
These are “core strengthening” exercises based on the Pilates system. Very easy and straightforward to follow, and you don’t need to be an olympic standard athlete already to do them.
I’ve tried them, and will certainly be incorporating them into my back pain relief regime.
Use this link to get them, print them out for convenience and have a go.
Saturday, 21 July 2012
Will we soon be getting immunised against chronic pain?
Science fiction? Well, according to a recent article on the BBC News website bbc.co.uk it could soon be science fact.
It reports that a research team at Liverpool's Pain Research Institute, led by Dr Andreas Goebel has been testing treatment involving the injection of intravenous immunoglobulin (IVIG) in a study involving 13 patients who had been experiencing chronic pain for at least 6 months.
The results seen promising, with a significant reduction in pain reported in just under half the patients treated, with the relief lasting five weeks after just a small dose.
Dr. Goebel said the real effect could turn out to be much greater, as higher doses could be given, together with repeated treatments. The treatment would also be able to be easily administered at home.
I can see this being a real help to many chronic back pain sufferers in the not too distant future. To read the full article use this link.
It reports that a research team at Liverpool's Pain Research Institute, led by Dr Andreas Goebel has been testing treatment involving the injection of intravenous immunoglobulin (IVIG) in a study involving 13 patients who had been experiencing chronic pain for at least 6 months.
The results seen promising, with a significant reduction in pain reported in just under half the patients treated, with the relief lasting five weeks after just a small dose.
Dr. Goebel said the real effect could turn out to be much greater, as higher doses could be given, together with repeated treatments. The treatment would also be able to be easily administered at home.
I can see this being a real help to many chronic back pain sufferers in the not too distant future. To read the full article use this link.
Friday, 20 July 2012
TENS doesn’t work for chronic low back pain!
This could be a bit controversial, but according to this article by Rosemary Frei in painmedicinenews.com research by the American Academy of Neurology’s Therapeutics and Technology Assessment Subcommittee shows that:“the use of transcutaneous electric nerve stimulation (TENS) for pain in neurologic disorders has concluded the modality does not work for chronic low back pain”
I don’t know if any of you are using TENS therapy for anything. I have friends who swear by it. Never having tried it myself I cannot comment. But I reckon we will see more on this story.
To read the full article use this link. You do need to register on this site to read the articles, but it’s free, and there is a tremendous amount of interesting stuff here.
Another study by neurologist Richard M Dubinsky, MD, MPH of Kansa University Medical Center
seems to back this view up. You can read a review of his study on the effectiveness of TENS as a treatment for chronic back pain here.
This one is going to run as they say. If any readers have experience of this they wish to pass on, email me at thebackman@live.com to let me know.
I don’t know if any of you are using TENS therapy for anything. I have friends who swear by it. Never having tried it myself I cannot comment. But I reckon we will see more on this story.
To read the full article use this link. You do need to register on this site to read the articles, but it’s free, and there is a tremendous amount of interesting stuff here.
Another study by neurologist Richard M Dubinsky, MD, MPH of Kansa University Medical Center
seems to back this view up. You can read a review of his study on the effectiveness of TENS as a treatment for chronic back pain here.
This one is going to run as they say. If any readers have experience of this they wish to pass on, email me at thebackman@live.com to let me know.
Thursday, 19 July 2012
Hot Chili Peppers can block your back pain!
No, not the band, but the capsaicin contained in hot chili peppers. Apparently a similar substance is generated by the body at the site of pain.
According to an item in Science Daily.com “Scientists at The University of Texas Health Science Center at San Antonio have discovered how to block these capsaicin-like molecules and created a new class of non-addictive painkillers”.
Again, nature seems to be showing us the way to treat our pain. This is a very interesting development and could lead to a whole new natural, non addictive treatment for the millions of chronic back pain sufferers now relying on opiate derivatives.
You can check out the full article here.
According to an item in Science Daily.com “Scientists at The University of Texas Health Science Center at San Antonio have discovered how to block these capsaicin-like molecules and created a new class of non-addictive painkillers”.
Again, nature seems to be showing us the way to treat our pain. This is a very interesting development and could lead to a whole new natural, non addictive treatment for the millions of chronic back pain sufferers now relying on opiate derivatives.
You can check out the full article here.
Wednesday, 18 July 2012
A Doctor’s experience of back surgery.
Now, if you have downloaded and read my free report (link over on the right there, just above my "Who am I" sidebar) you will know that I am not a fan of back surgery to cure back pain unless it is completely unavoidable, and that is the take of much of the medical profession.
So when I read this article on the BBC 4 website by Dr. Mark Porter, the well known media Doctor, (he's well known in the UK, trust me!) about his own experience with backpain and referred leg pain I thought you might be interested.
Dr. Porter says “I have always advised patients of mine to grin and bear the pain in the hope that Mother Nature will eventually heal the wound and do a better job than a surgeon, but my experience has changed that stance and I am now far more pro-surgery than I used to be. My pain never settled despite throwing the British National Formulary at it — and when I started to lose feeling and power in my left leg, a neurosurgeon suggested a microdiscectomy and I agreed”.
If you want to read the outcome, and how he is now, go here to find out.
So when I read this article on the BBC 4 website by Dr. Mark Porter, the well known media Doctor, (he's well known in the UK, trust me!) about his own experience with backpain and referred leg pain I thought you might be interested.
Dr. Porter says “I have always advised patients of mine to grin and bear the pain in the hope that Mother Nature will eventually heal the wound and do a better job than a surgeon, but my experience has changed that stance and I am now far more pro-surgery than I used to be. My pain never settled despite throwing the British National Formulary at it — and when I started to lose feeling and power in my left leg, a neurosurgeon suggested a microdiscectomy and I agreed”.
If you want to read the outcome, and how he is now, go here to find out.
Tuesday, 17 July 2012
Just talking about it can ease your back pain.
The Daily Mail carried this article recently by Fiona Macrae, and the Med-India website featured the same story. This could be the next big thing.
According to the Mail:
“A study of hundreds of adults with chronic back trouble found that those given a short-course of talking therapy were still reaping the benefits a year later”.
It goes on to say: “With the treatment judged better value for money than physiotherapy or acupuncture, it could provide a relatively cheap and easy way of helping the millions of Britons whose backs cause them daily pain”.
This is a fascinating one indeed, It’ll be interesting to watch the progress of this therapy. To check out the whole article click here.
According to the Mail:
“A study of hundreds of adults with chronic back trouble found that those given a short-course of talking therapy were still reaping the benefits a year later”.
It goes on to say: “With the treatment judged better value for money than physiotherapy or acupuncture, it could provide a relatively cheap and easy way of helping the millions of Britons whose backs cause them daily pain”.
This is a fascinating one indeed, It’ll be interesting to watch the progress of this therapy. To check out the whole article click here.
Being Overweight could be good for your back pain
This item in the Medical News Today website I found absolutely fascinating. Probably like yourself I have always believed that being overweight was a bad thing if you had a bad back or joints.
Well not so according to Tapio Videman, MD, DMSci, Heritage Senior Scholar of Rehabilitation Medicine at University of Alberta.
He and his team have done research which shows that more physical loading may in fact slightly delay disc degeneration.
Videman based his findings on his studies of identical male twins. Identical that is except one of the twins weighed on average 29 pounds heavier than the other, that’s just over two stones to you and I in the UK.
What he found was that there was not only no evidence to show that the extra weight was harmful to the discs, but in fact the heavier twin had slightly less disc degeneration.
Great, I can carry on eating the pies then!
You can read more on this story here:
Well not so according to Tapio Videman, MD, DMSci, Heritage Senior Scholar of Rehabilitation Medicine at University of Alberta.
He and his team have done research which shows that more physical loading may in fact slightly delay disc degeneration.
Videman based his findings on his studies of identical male twins. Identical that is except one of the twins weighed on average 29 pounds heavier than the other, that’s just over two stones to you and I in the UK.
What he found was that there was not only no evidence to show that the extra weight was harmful to the discs, but in fact the heavier twin had slightly less disc degeneration.
Great, I can carry on eating the pies then!
You can read more on this story here:
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