The Top 10 Back Pain Myths.

Back pain being so common, just about everyone is an "expert" and myths abound.

I have found an excellent article by Anne Asher on the backandneckabout.com website, in which she details the top ten myths about back pain. Why they are myths, and what you should and shouldn’t be doing.

This is well worth a read, and whilst you may be aware of a few, it’s unlikely you will be aware of them all. Rather than try to summarise here I will leave you with the link to check out for yourself at your leisure.

Stretches for Back Pain, the Rights and Wrongs.

By now I’m sure we are all aware of the benefits of stretching exercises for the relief of back pain. But how many of us know why it works and how to do it properly?

In this article by Author Kristian Berg on the massagemag.com website he explains "During a stretch, there is increased blood flow to the muscle, causing it to relax," he told the news provider. "As circulation increases, the blood washes substances that cause pain out of the muscle, thereby decreasing pain."

Of course there is the right way and the wrong way to stretch. And Mr. Berg goes on to describe some of these, including his “four principles of stretching.”

Now although this article is pretty much a teaser for his e-book I thought it had enough stand-alone sensible information to warrant including here, so to see what you can do to make your stretching more effective go here.

Chronic Back Pain Cured With One Traditional Treatment!

Cassandra Pickard lived with chronic back and shoulder pain for 10 years before trying this. One treatment changed her life. “I felt like dancing,” she says.

So what is this wonder treatment? It is simply Traditional Thai massage, also known as Thai yoga massage. This story is covered by Karen Hawthorn on the National Post.com website.

Traditional Thai Massager is different from the massage we are used to in the west. The patient is fully clothed, and no oils are used.

The story goes on to describe the process in detail, and many people have benefited greatly.

This sounds like something that is well worth a try. Fortunately it should be quite easy to locate a practitioner in your own area. I just entered “thai massage in uk” and “thai yoga massage in uk” and found many. I’m sure you would find lots in your own area too if you narrowed the search down to your local town.

I’d love to know if anyone tries this and how they get on. To read the full story use this link.

The four most common types of knee pain & recommended treatments.

This is an interesting article by Dr. Heinz Hoenecke, on the signonsandiego.com website. In it he details the four most common types of knee pain, and the treatments that are usually recommended for each type.

Knee pain has lots of causes, including sports injury or just simple wear and tear. But it is a fact that knee pain is extremely common (I know all about that) and treatment can vary from rest to major surgery (I know all about that too!).

So check out these four types of knee pain and see what Dr. Hoenecke has to say about them, and what the best course of action is if you have one of them.

Disc Regeneration Therapy Can Provide Relief for a Painful Back.

This is stem cell therapy, which we have mentioned before. According to a story on prweb.com it has now reached the point where this minimally invasive procedure is being used to treat herniated discs or degenerative disc disease, which would previously have been treated with major surgical procedures such as spinal fusion.

Dr. Mark Flood, Chief Surgeon and Medical Director of Celling Treatment Centers in Austin, TX, is one of the very first physicians to use stem cell transplantation for disc regeneration. And is seeing excellent results.

You can read the full story at the link below. Although this is a US based story the treatment is available in UK and other places. Just enter something like “stem cell therapy for disc problems in (wherever you are)” without the quotes of course, and you will find many clinics.

Read the story here.

How to Manage Your Own Back Pain

There are many things we can do to manage our own back pain. I chanced upon an interesting article on that subject by Dr Sally Venn  of the Welsh Backs campaign, on the wales online.co.uk website.

She says, amongst other things, that the most important thing is to stay active. To quote Dr. Venn “Staying active means different things to different people, but the simple message is carry on as you normally would.”

Having had back pain myself for many years I have, probably like many of my readers, been given conflicting advice over the years. However I can relate to Sally's recommendation as I have found, that for me anyway, keeping active, or at least moving as much as possible, works wonders.

She goes on to say you should do normal activities even if it hurts. “Just because you’re in pain, it doesn’t mean that you are doing permanent damage.” And it’s perfectly OK to take over the counter painkillers to help you carry on, which will speed your recovery.

She also gives a list of tips recommended by the Welsh Backs Campaign, including when you should seek medical advice as a matter of urgency.

Well worth reading. You can find these tips and advice here.

Yograj Guggulu for Knee Pain and Back Pain?

This is something else I had never heard of until I chanced upon this blog by an Indian lady contributor on blogcritic.org.

To cut a long story short, she developed a very painful knee from an injury in 2007. This deteriorated over time and physiotherapy and Glucosamine and painkillers were of no use. X-rays and MRI scans showed no anomaly.

So the writer lived with the pain until she discovered Yograj Guggulu. This is apparently a powerful natural pain killer with many other useful properties.

Its therapeutic use helps in reducing pain, swelling and tenderness of the inflamed joints.  A dosage of 250 mg to 1 gram daily is to be taken in the morning and evening.

After just a month of taking it the pain had reduced considerably, to the point where she is considering a possible high jump. (I’m not sure if this is a joke).

I have done a quick search on Yograj Guggulu and it is available online, selling in Uk for around £10 for 40 tablets. And if it works for neck pain there's no reason why it shouldn't work for back pain too.

I’m not recommending these, I don’t know enough about it. But it is interesting, and if anyone does give them a go please let me know how you get on.Read the full blog here.

Are Stretch Exercises Good for an Acute Back Injury?

As you all know I do recommend stretch exercise as one of the best ways to relieve and manage back pain. However, I found this article by Anne Asher on about.com where she discusses the merits and otherwise of exercise for acute back injury,

Generally speaking she concludes that stretch exercise is good, even for an acute back problem as long as it is approached it the correct way.

She goes on to describe various types of back injury and gives some basic guidelines regarding stretching for your acute or flared up spine injury.

This is well worth a read and you can find the full article here.

Neck and Shoulder Pain are Connected.

I suppose this is fairly common knowledge, most of us who experience an injury in one of these areas will very likely experience pain in the other area too.

In an article by Wayne Wilkins on helium.com he describes how there are many muscles and nerves that connect the neck and shoulders, and this should be taken into consideration whether you are suffering from an injury now, whether you have in the past or whether you are simply looking for information to properly self-diagnose any potential injuries in the future.

Shoulder and neck pain can be caused by many things, but one of the most common is a trapped nerve. This can even happen overnight from lying in an awkward position. Or simply turning your head too quickly.

Quite an interesting little read which may well explain your neck/shoulder problem, with advice on when to consult your doctor.

Use this link to read the article in full.

Treat Back Pain with Hand Reflexology

Happy New Year to all Back Pain Information readers. Let's hope 2013 will bring us the breakthrough we've all been waiting for. Well, there's no harm in dreaming is there?

A short post today. I'm sure you all have better things to do than read this blog on the first day of the year.

It's surely no secret that a lot of back pain is caused by stress and tension. I found this illustrated article by Naomi Coleman on the Mail Online. 

She outlines practical self help that you can do almost anywhere to combat stress related back, neck and shoulder pain.

This uses hand reflexology and is explained succinctly here. Have a go and let me know how you get on.