Many of us seem to have developed the habit of suffering in silence. Or if not in silence at home (partners usually get the brunt) we tend to not want to “bother the doctor.” This is particularly true of an ongoing situation like back pain.
Or we think to ourselves they must see so many people with back pain and this isn’t too bad. I’ll live with it a while.
And of course, sometimes it will get better on it’s own. Usually to return sooner or later, but by then unless it’s really bad we have got into the habit of not seeing the doctor.
However there can be a serious underlying problem, and in this article by Pauline Looye-Jones on the wickedlocal.com website she details nine warning signs that may indicate a condition that is more severe than strained soft tissue. If any of these red flags apply to you, then see your doctor soon.
To read the article and check out the signs you need to be looking for go here.
Sunday, 24 February 2013
Friday, 22 February 2013
Back Pain Relief using this Three Step Plan.
Today I am pointing you towards a site that I have had recommended to me by several of my readers, who have tried this system and say it is excellent.
This is all about the “X-Pain Method” developed by Dr. Graham Teague, a specialist chiropractor in the field of back pain relief, driven by personal experience from a hockey injury in his youth. If you are one of those who already know about it you don’t need to go any furthur. However if you havn’t heard of it before it’s worth a look.
Dr. Teague says he has developed the most comprehensive program on back pain relief. You get everything you'll ever need to finally banish your back or neck pain ... and only spend a few minutes a day to achieve this. No boring, time consuming, laborious exercises.
This is based upon what he calls the three step plan to eliminate your back pain.
1. Detect the cause.
2. Symptom relief.
3. Remove the underlying cause.
You can learn about this in more detail here.
What is the true cause of your pain?
Dr. Teague makes the point that the current beliefs are that back and neck pain are caused by a combination of the accumulation of many micro-injuries over time, by muscle tightness around the joint, inflammation of the surrounding tissue and pressure from the poor joint movement, and the four common distortion patterns created by various muscular and joint imbalances.
He says they may well CREATE your pain but are NOT the true cause of it. The true cause is the habitual nature of pain.
For his explanation of this, use this link.
Why do so many treatments fail?
This is actually linked to the last statement that the habitual nature of pain is the true cause. This effectively means that to get long term back pain relief you must change the internal habits that tell you that your back pain is normal. His X-Pain Method is geared up to help you do that in just a few minutes a day. Check out his site now.
As I said earlier this is a recommendation from a number of readers. In fact the only one of it’s type that has had any recommendation from readers so is worth a look on that basis alone.
This is all about the “X-Pain Method” developed by Dr. Graham Teague, a specialist chiropractor in the field of back pain relief, driven by personal experience from a hockey injury in his youth. If you are one of those who already know about it you don’t need to go any furthur. However if you havn’t heard of it before it’s worth a look.
Dr. Teague says he has developed the most comprehensive program on back pain relief. You get everything you'll ever need to finally banish your back or neck pain ... and only spend a few minutes a day to achieve this. No boring, time consuming, laborious exercises.
This is based upon what he calls the three step plan to eliminate your back pain.
1. Detect the cause.
2. Symptom relief.
3. Remove the underlying cause.
You can learn about this in more detail here.
What is the true cause of your pain?
Dr. Teague makes the point that the current beliefs are that back and neck pain are caused by a combination of the accumulation of many micro-injuries over time, by muscle tightness around the joint, inflammation of the surrounding tissue and pressure from the poor joint movement, and the four common distortion patterns created by various muscular and joint imbalances.
He says they may well CREATE your pain but are NOT the true cause of it. The true cause is the habitual nature of pain.
For his explanation of this, use this link.
Why do so many treatments fail?
This is actually linked to the last statement that the habitual nature of pain is the true cause. This effectively means that to get long term back pain relief you must change the internal habits that tell you that your back pain is normal. His X-Pain Method is geared up to help you do that in just a few minutes a day. Check out his site now.
As I said earlier this is a recommendation from a number of readers. In fact the only one of it’s type that has had any recommendation from readers so is worth a look on that basis alone.
Wednesday, 20 February 2013
Exercises for Neck Pain and Massage for Back Pain.
One of the best treatments for back pain is therapeutic massage.
So says this article on republikein.com, which then goes on to tell us several reasons why. I have always been a great believer in the pain relieving benefits of massage. And of course it’s non-invasive.
This article is well worth a read for the hints and tips on massage, and why it actually works. Read it here.
My neck has given me a few problems lately. I think a combination of the weather and maybe too many hours on this computer.
However I’ve been trying these exercises from thephysiotherapysite.co.uk website for the past two or three days. They are simple, illustrated, you can do them at home, and they really do help a lot.
If you have a painful neck and want to try them for yourself here’s the link.
So says this article on republikein.com, which then goes on to tell us several reasons why. I have always been a great believer in the pain relieving benefits of massage. And of course it’s non-invasive.
This article is well worth a read for the hints and tips on massage, and why it actually works. Read it here.
My neck has given me a few problems lately. I think a combination of the weather and maybe too many hours on this computer.
However I’ve been trying these exercises from thephysiotherapysite.co.uk website for the past two or three days. They are simple, illustrated, you can do them at home, and they really do help a lot.
If you have a painful neck and want to try them for yourself here’s the link.
Sunday, 17 February 2013
Chronic Back Pain Treatment with Horse Liniment.
I found this story on the telegraph.co.uk website, by one of their correspondents, Robin Millward. Who found a long lost bottle of muscle rub in his medicine cabinet when he was trying to cope with chronic back pain.
This muscle rub, which had travelled back from a visit to America some time before, turns out to be based on a horse liniment sold in America since 1903 as Absorbine Jr.
The original horse formula was devised by Wilbur F Young and his wife Mary Ida, a herbalist who assembled the concoction in her bathtub in Connecticut, in the 1890s.
Originally Absorbine was – and still is – rubbed into tired horses to ease sore muscles and prevent lameness. Then some of the farmers noticed that it made them feel better too.
Robin Millward tried it in desperation and discovered that it eased his pain tremendously. To the point in fact where he could resume his exercises and achieve his recovery without surgery.
This actually reminds me of my grandfather, who was a miner, and swore by what he called “horse oils” for his occupational back pain.
You can try it yourself if you wish, it is marketed on Amazon and other places on the net. Could be worth a go.
To read the full story, and it is fascinating, go here.
Here's an interesting little snippet. researchers at Harvard Medical School, New England Baptist Hospital and Spaulding Rehabilitation Hospital -- all in Boston, say they have discovered a link between knee osteoarthritis and foot, elbow, and lower back pain.
Quite fascinating, I have had the knee osteoarthritis, back pain, and elbow pain. If you count gout I have also had the foot pain!
Anyway, you can check the article out at this link.
This muscle rub, which had travelled back from a visit to America some time before, turns out to be based on a horse liniment sold in America since 1903 as Absorbine Jr.
The original horse formula was devised by Wilbur F Young and his wife Mary Ida, a herbalist who assembled the concoction in her bathtub in Connecticut, in the 1890s.
Originally Absorbine was – and still is – rubbed into tired horses to ease sore muscles and prevent lameness. Then some of the farmers noticed that it made them feel better too.
Robin Millward tried it in desperation and discovered that it eased his pain tremendously. To the point in fact where he could resume his exercises and achieve his recovery without surgery.
This actually reminds me of my grandfather, who was a miner, and swore by what he called “horse oils” for his occupational back pain.
You can try it yourself if you wish, it is marketed on Amazon and other places on the net. Could be worth a go.
To read the full story, and it is fascinating, go here.
Here's an interesting little snippet. researchers at Harvard Medical School, New England Baptist Hospital and Spaulding Rehabilitation Hospital -- all in Boston, say they have discovered a link between knee osteoarthritis and foot, elbow, and lower back pain.
Quite fascinating, I have had the knee osteoarthritis, back pain, and elbow pain. If you count gout I have also had the foot pain!
Anyway, you can check the article out at this link.
Monday, 11 February 2013
The Side Effects of Taking Lyrica for Shoulder and Back Pain.
This is another one of those instances where a drug originally designed for one problem has been found to be effective for something quite different.
Lyrica, or pregabalin to give it it’s medical name, was originally produced by Pfizer as a treatment for epilepsy.
Because it acts as a nerve calming agent it was discovered that it was also effective as a pain reliever in certain cases, and it has become reasonably commonly prescribed for some types of pain on both sides of the atlantic. Including shoulder pain, and back pain.
There can however apparently be significant side effects and some of these are described by Wally Doerr on the news.yahoo.com website. If you are taking Lyrica or are considering taking it you may find this interesting.
If you want to know about Lyrica in more detail try this article. The fact that it is not fully understood how or why this works for some people doesn't actually inspire me with confidence!
Lyrica, or pregabalin to give it it’s medical name, was originally produced by Pfizer as a treatment for epilepsy.
Because it acts as a nerve calming agent it was discovered that it was also effective as a pain reliever in certain cases, and it has become reasonably commonly prescribed for some types of pain on both sides of the atlantic. Including shoulder pain, and back pain.
There can however apparently be significant side effects and some of these are described by Wally Doerr on the news.yahoo.com website. If you are taking Lyrica or are considering taking it you may find this interesting.
If you want to know about Lyrica in more detail try this article. The fact that it is not fully understood how or why this works for some people doesn't actually inspire me with confidence!
Friday, 8 February 2013
Vitamin D Doesn’t Help Knee Pain.
I don’t know if any of my readers are taking vitamin D for aching joints, and knee pain in particular. But this story on the medpage today.com website by John Gever seems to say you are wasting your time.
Now we all know that vitamin D is essential for strong bones, and in fact poor diet and lack of vitamin D in particular meant that rickets was rife in the late 19th and early 20th century.
This article mentions a randomised trial of patients with knee osteoarthritis where a large intake of vitamin D appeared to reduce pain scores.
However the results were not statistically significant, and the conclusion was that taking large amounts of vitamin D did not translate into a better outcome for those with knee osteoarthritis.
To read the full story in more detail use this link. I would of course be interested to hear of any readers experiences taking vitamin D.
Now we all know that vitamin D is essential for strong bones, and in fact poor diet and lack of vitamin D in particular meant that rickets was rife in the late 19th and early 20th century.
This article mentions a randomised trial of patients with knee osteoarthritis where a large intake of vitamin D appeared to reduce pain scores.
However the results were not statistically significant, and the conclusion was that taking large amounts of vitamin D did not translate into a better outcome for those with knee osteoarthritis.
To read the full story in more detail use this link. I would of course be interested to hear of any readers experiences taking vitamin D.
Wednesday, 6 February 2013
How To Avoid Back Pain While Queueing.
I found an article on journalgazette.com a few weeks ago which I thought was quite appropriate for the time of year that I found it (last september actually). Then got sidetracked with something else and forgot about it.
Looking through my files this morning I re-discovered it and realised that it is valid at any time as most of us these days spend quite a while queueing.
So to save myself time I reproduce the following as I originally wrote it asnd hopefully readers will find it useful:-
Well, however much some of us might try to avoid it, it is now September and there is no getting away from the fact that Christmas is looming up fast.
That means many of us will be spending a fair amount of time queueing, or standing in line as they say across the pond. This can lead to cramps, neck stiffness and back pain. I’m sure we’ve most of us been there.
This article offers several tips to avoid the pain, recommended by The American Chiropractic Association.
This is excellent stuff, and can be put into practise any time you have to stand for a while. To read the article and get the tips click here.
Looking through my files this morning I re-discovered it and realised that it is valid at any time as most of us these days spend quite a while queueing.
So to save myself time I reproduce the following as I originally wrote it asnd hopefully readers will find it useful:-
Well, however much some of us might try to avoid it, it is now September and there is no getting away from the fact that Christmas is looming up fast.
That means many of us will be spending a fair amount of time queueing, or standing in line as they say across the pond. This can lead to cramps, neck stiffness and back pain. I’m sure we’ve most of us been there.
This article offers several tips to avoid the pain, recommended by The American Chiropractic Association.
This is excellent stuff, and can be put into practise any time you have to stand for a while. To read the article and get the tips click here.
Tuesday, 5 February 2013
Is Cracking Your Neck Bad For You?
If you are anything like me, after being inactive for a while you probably have a good old stretch, including rolling your neck and cracking it. Usually giving a feeling of relief.
Well, we may not be doing ourselves as much good as we think. So says Nancy Ryks, physical therapist, in an article on the edmontonjournal.com website.
She says that in many cases it only provides temporary relief, if any at all. And repetitive cracking can lead to overstretching of the neck joints and possibly hyper-mobility or even instability. This in turn could lead to chronic pain and dysfunction.
Doesn’t sound too good does it? Read the story here.
As a footnote for today, if you take codeine on a regular basis (as I used to) are you addicted? For information, read this readers letter (a bit disjointed but you'll get the gist) to Dr. Miriam Stoppard on the dailymirror .co.uk website and check out her reply.
Well, we may not be doing ourselves as much good as we think. So says Nancy Ryks, physical therapist, in an article on the edmontonjournal.com website.
She says that in many cases it only provides temporary relief, if any at all. And repetitive cracking can lead to overstretching of the neck joints and possibly hyper-mobility or even instability. This in turn could lead to chronic pain and dysfunction.
Doesn’t sound too good does it? Read the story here.
As a footnote for today, if you take codeine on a regular basis (as I used to) are you addicted? For information, read this readers letter (a bit disjointed but you'll get the gist) to Dr. Miriam Stoppard on the dailymirror .co.uk website and check out her reply.
Saturday, 2 February 2013
Mobility Shoes Can Help Ease Knee Pain.
According to an article on the sify.com website, a recent study conducted by Najia Shakoor, associate professor of medicine at Rush University in Chicago, has shown that not only can special mobility shoes ease knee pain. They can actually slow down the progression of osteoarthritis of the knees.
Shakoor studied how the use of mobility shoes—flat, flexible shoes, designed specifically for her research, that allow natural foot mobility and provide sufficient support for the foot—affected knee osteoarthritis.
The researchers found that specialized footwear was beneficial in reducing knee loads substantially over six months.
This is a fascinating development, and could prove a real breakthrough in the non-invasive treatment of osteoarthritis of the knees. Maybe I could've delayed my knee replacements if this information was available a few years ago. To read the full article go here.
Shakoor studied how the use of mobility shoes—flat, flexible shoes, designed specifically for her research, that allow natural foot mobility and provide sufficient support for the foot—affected knee osteoarthritis.
The researchers found that specialized footwear was beneficial in reducing knee loads substantially over six months.
This is a fascinating development, and could prove a real breakthrough in the non-invasive treatment of osteoarthritis of the knees. Maybe I could've delayed my knee replacements if this information was available a few years ago. To read the full article go here.
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