Simple And Practical Ways On How To Prevent Upper Back Pain
August 15th, 2008 Subscribe To Our Feed
A lot people in the country today suffer from upper back pain every now and then. Poor diet and lifestyle are some of the primary causes of these miseries. Fortunately, most types of upper back pain can be easily avoided. If you are one of those people who occasionally suffer from upper back pain, here are some simple ways to prevent such condition.
Exercise And Loosen Up Those Muscles
A sedentary life can lead to a number of medical problems later on. It is not uncommon for people who sit all day to suffer from different types of aches and pains at the end of the end. Our bodies are not really built to stay stationary for several hours so it is but natural that our muscles and bones ache after subjecting them to some rigid positions for several hours. To prevent muscle pains, you need to flex and stretch your muscles every now and then.
There are plenty of exercises that you can do inside your office. For instance, when answer the phone, stand up and stretch your muscles. Move around your desk while talking on the phone to help your blood circulate in your body. If you have a squeeze ball with you, start squeezing that ball and flex your fingers. Aside from standing up to answer the phone, try not to use the intranet a couple of times in a day. Instead of firing an email to your colleague in the next cubicle, get up and talk to that person.
Quit Smoking And Maintain A Healthy Weight
Smoking is bad for your body. If you are one of those people who cannot live with a pack of cigarettes a day, you need to seriously look into your habit. According to studies, a lot of people who smoke suffer from upper back pain. The bad news is that in many cases, the upper back pain can be caused by some really serious problems in the lungs of the smokers. In fact, upper back pain among smokers can be a sign of lung cancer. To help yourself stay healthy and fit, throw that packet of cigarette into the garbage bin now. Do not wait for the time when your bad habits take its toll on your body.
Aside from smoking, one of the most common causes of upper back pain is obesity. A lot of people who complain of upper back pain are overweight. If you have been tipping the scale too much lately, start controlling your weight by exercising and eating right.
Treating Back Pain at Home
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When you hurt your back, it affects you much more than injuring another part of your body. It makes it hard to go about your day-to-day activities, and may make even getting out of bed a challenge. While you should see your doctor to rule out a serious injury or other cause of back pain, there are some simple ways to treat back pain at home.
Treating Back Pain with Rest
The best way to treat back pain is with rest. Some people find that simply resting in a comfortable chair helps; resting your back while taking pressure off of your back is best. You can easily do this by lying on the floor and elevating your legs in a bent position with a chair. Put a pillow under your head and legs for comfort. You can also accomplish this with pillows under your knees. Get up every couple of hours and walk around to aid in circulation, and don’t rest like this for more than a couple of days (if the pain persists for more than a couple of days, you should seek medical help).
Treating Back Pain with Heat and Ice
You can eliminate some of the pain of a back injury with heat and ice. Apply cold first, then use heat. You will want to put ice on your back shortly after injuring your back for about 20 minutes at a time. Be sure to cover the ice pack with a cloth or thin towel to avoid frostbite. You can also make your own ice-pack at home – in a freezer Ziploc type bag, combine equal parts of water and rubbing alcohol and freeze. It will get cold and slushy, but not freeze all the way, which allows the pack to be wrapped around an injury. After the initial injury and pain, you can treat back pain by applying heat from a heating pad to help loosen the muscles in your back.
Treating Back Pain with Pain Relievers
There are many over-the-counter pain relieves that can help relieve back pain. A medication such as aspirin or ibuprofen will help with pain and swelling. These are considered NSAIDS (non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs) and are similar to what a doctor will prescribe for back pain. Many doctors recommend taking these drugs on a regular schedule as directed by the medication packaging. You can also take other medications such as Tylenol and Aleve for pain. As with any medication, if the pain persists after a few days, you should make an appointment with your doctor.
Possible Reasons for Severe Back Pain
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An accident is the only obvious cause of severe back pain. It is possible that a vertebra or a bone in the pelvic girdle has fractured following a fall, and the chances of such an adverse event are high for older women with osteoporosis. Soft tissue injury in the areas can also cause inflammation and resulting pain. Any undue swelling in the abdomen also refers pain to the back. All women, especially those who are expecting, are vulnerable to these kinds of referred pain, which afflict the back though their root causes lie elsewhere in the body. People and care givers can generally guess the probable reasons for unbearable pain in these obvious circumstances.
Sudden onset of severe back pain, especially if it occurs following a jerky movement of the lower body, could indicate a displacement of the connective tissue between vertebrae. Lifting a suitcase, a pile of text books, or picking up any other weighty object without bending the knees, are examples of carelessness, which can leave one immobilized in pain. Even coughing or sneezing in a bent position can lead to this kind of acute discomfort. The bony vertebrae are separated by cushions of cartilage, and a slight displacement, which may also involve a nerve fiber, will have a victim crying out in pain.
Severe back pain can also be due to displacements of nerve fibers, clots in blood vessels, or due to infections inside the spinal cord. Lay people cannot detect these causes, but a doctor may suspect them on clinical examination, and confirm suspicions through tests. Some degree of symptomatic relief is possible, but managing the basic cause can require prolonged treatment, and can involve complications as well. This is why every case of acute pain needs professional medical attention. However, it can take time to reach an Emergency Room, and there are places where medical help may not be available within a reasonable period of time, so awareness of steps that can be taken until help arrives, can save on both acute discomfort and later complications.
First Aid for Severe Back Pain
It is best to lie still on a hard surface until a victim of severe back pain can be conveyed to an Emergency Room. A conscious person may try to swallow pain killers which do not require prescriptions, and a balm can be applied if the person is able to expose the affected area. However, it is important for doctors to have details of all first-aid medication before they start treatment, since what ever they may decide to administer could react with other drugs in the system. The back should be immobilized to the extent possible if a victim has to be moved before trained and equipped emergency workers arrive on the scene, though it is best to wait patiently and be completely still.
Could Your Bed Be Causing Your Neck And Back Pain?
August 15th, 2008 Subscribe To Our Feed
Many people wake up the morning with aching backs and necks. As the day wears on, most of the pain goes away and most likely they think they just slept wrong, or their significant other elbowed them during the night. Well, it is possible that their mattress or pillow could be the culprit. Over time even very high quality pillows and mattresses can lose support and cause neck and back pain for the people sleeping on them. Follows is a more detailed explanation of what can go wrong with your pillow and mattress as well as what you should do to prevent further neck and back pain.
Poorly Supportive Pillow
If your pillow is flat and unable to support your head correctly, you will find yourself waking up to a stiff neck, and possibly upper back spasms. The pain in your neck and back will usually go away during the day but will eventually lead to chronic neck and back pain if the cause of the pain is not eliminated. Even brand new pillows can be unsupportive if made from certain materials, for example down or feather pillows. Additionally, even the most supportive pillow will need to be replaced after a time, as it becomes less supportive.
Naturally the best solution for a poorly supportive pillow is to replace your pillow. By purchasing the correct type of pillow, you can virtually eliminate neck and back pain from your life. Pillows made from foam, of firm stuffing are much better for the support of your head and neck that pillows made from feathers or down materials. Some people sleep with two pillows to achieve the proper support for their neck but this can backfire and cause your neck to be stretched uncomfortably. The best bet is still to purchase a firm foam pillow for the best support for your neck and the prevention for neck and back pain.
Poorly Supportive Mattress
Very similar to the problem of an unsupportive pillow, a mattress lacking the proper support can end up with you waking up to neck and back pain. Inexpensive mattresses only last about four years until they become naturally unsupportive, even with a consistent schedule of flipping and maintenance. High quality, and often expensive, mattresses will last longer but probably not more than about ten years. If your mattress is older than that and made from spring or metal coils, you should look into replacing it. If it is made from a more durable material, such as the new foam, you can most likely hold it onto it for a few more years. The real test is whether you frequently wake up with neck and back pain that isn’t caused by any other reason. Once this starts happening more than three or four times a week, it is time to shop for a new (or better) mattress.
The Emergence of Lower Back Pain Exercises
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Contrary to popular belief, many lower back pain instances can be treated with a number of exercises as opposed to the common treatments of surgery and drugs. Sadly, many will continue to put themselves at great risk undertaking these avoidable treatments when lower back pain exercises may be the better option. What many need to understand is the fact that lower back pain exercises emerged as an alternative form of treatment due to a multitude of catastrophe situations that have resulted from drug therapy gone wrong as evidenced by the following sad historical tale.
The Sad Tale of Bela Lugosi
If there ever was a cautionary tale about the dangers of treating back injuries with drugs, it would be the sad tale of what happened to legendary horror actor Bela Lugosi in the late 1940’s. Lugosi had become world famous for his portrayal of Dracula in the titular 1932 motion picture. However, by 1947, Lugosi’s career had been stalled as the horror genre has ceased to be popular and Lugosi was no longer in demand. When the opportunity arose to reprise his role in a traveling stage version of the film (actually, he played Dracula on Broadway in the 1920’s) Lugosi had the opportunity to earn a living once again. Sadly, he suffered a serious back injury prior to the commencement and, due to deep financial need, Lugosi had to go on. In order to do so, he opted for what was the common treatment for lower back pain in the 1940’s: he injected morphine into his body and developed the drug habit that would eventually end his career and his life. Sadly, had there been knowledge of lower back pain exercises in the 1940’s sad tale of Bela Lugosi may have had a happy ending.
A Final Word of Lower Back Pain Exercises as an Alternative to Drugs Treatment
Lower back pain exercises are not the be all, end all of back injury and pain treatment, but they do provide a valuable alternative to traditional treatments that come with a variety of great risks. Ultimately, it is up to the individual to decide what treatment is best for them, but they should consider the least risky and least intrusive treatment first so as to avoid any potential problems that may occur. Since the main purpose of treatment it to get better would it not be smart to avoid those treatments that have the potential to make one’s situation to get worse. This is where lower back pain exercises come in handy.
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Understanding Injury Resulting in Lower Back Pain
August 15th, 2008 Subscribe To Our Feed
Lower back pain is the second leading cause of missing days from school or work in America. Some lower back pain is caused by stress or disease. But often there is an injury that results in lower back pain. While some of these injuries are unavoidable, you can manage your risk for others, and keep your back healthy in the long run.
Back Pain from Accidents
The most common injuries resulting in lower back pain come from accidents. Auto accidents can cause muscle strains, sprain the ligaments and tendons in the back, and compress discs (which causes nerve pain in the back). Injuries resulting in lower back pain can also stem from fractures in the back, whether large or hairline. Back pain can also come from motorcycle accidents, especially since a motorcycle provides no protection for the muscles and bones in your back. There are also household accidents that can result in injury to the lower back. Things like falling down the steps can result in a serious injury; actress Jenna Fischer was in the hospital for weeks after falling down a flight of stairs and breaking bones in her back. While accidents are usually unavoidable, defensive driving and awareness of your surroundings can help to minimize your risk
Back Pain from Overuse
Overuse injuries can also result in lower back pain. Things like continual lifting can wear down cartilage over time. Overuse of back muscles without taking proper precautions can lead to a slipped or ruptured disc, both which put pressure on the nerves in the spinal column. Be sure that when you are doing any activity that involves lifting or puts strain on your back that you are using proper technique and are taking necessary precautions to avoid injury.
Back Pain from Sports
Sports injuries often result in lower back pain. Sports of any type put a strain on your body, and can result in injury, even when done correctly. Muscle strains and tears are the most common sports-related injury that can result in lower back pain. It’s important to treat these carefully, and seek the advice of a doctor or trainer. Most recommend treating this type of injury with the “RICE” method – rest, ice, compress, and elevate. Back pain can be treated using this method as well. Resting the muscles, using an ice pack, and keeping pressure off of the lower back (lie on your back with your feet elevated) can all help.
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