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Back Pain
Back pain is one of the most common medical problems — an estimated 8 out of 10 people suffer from it. Symptoms can range from a muscle ache to shooting pain, limited range of motion, and an inability to stand up straight. The goal of treatment is to restore proper function and strength to the back and prevent recurrence of the injury.
What Is Back Pain?
Back pain is an all-too-familiar problem that can range from a dull, constant ache to a sudden, sharp pain that leaves you incapacitated. It can come on suddenly — from an accident, a fall, or lifting something too heavy — or it can develop slowly, perhaps as the result of age-related changes to the spine. Regardless of how back pain happens or how it feels, you will know it when you have it. And chances are, if you don’t have back pain now, you will eventually. At some point, back pain affects an estimated 8 out of 10 people. Back pain is one of our society’s most common medical problems.
Types and Causes
Acute or short-term low back pain generally lasts from a few days to a few weeks. Acute back pain is usually the result of trauma to the lower back or a disorder such as arthritis. Pain from trauma may be caused by:
- A sports injury
- Work around the house or in the garden
- A sudden jolt, such as a car accident
- Other stress on spinal bones and tissues.
Chronic back pain is pain that persists for more than 3 months; it is often progressive; and the cause can be difficult to determine.
Symptoms of Back Pain
Back pain symptoms may range from:
- A muscle ache to shooting or stabbing pain
- Limited flexibility and range of motion
- An inability to stand up straight.
Should I See a Chiropractor ?
In most cases, it is not necessary to see a doctor for back pain because the pain usually goes away with or without treatment. However, patients should see a chiropractor for back pain if:
- They are experiencing numbness or tingling
- The pain is severe and doesn’t improve with medication and rest
- They are having back pain after a fall or an injury.
Symptoms Requiring Immediate Attention
It is important to see your doctor if you have back pain and any of the following symptoms:
- Trouble urinating
- Weakness
- Pain or numbness in your legs
- Fever
- Unintentional weight loss.
These symptoms can signal a serious problem that requires immediate treatment.
Who to See for Back Pain?
Many different types of doctors treat back pain, from chiropractors, to family physicians to doctors who specialize in disorders of the nerves and musculoskeletal system. In most cases, patients should see their chiropractor first, who are the primary care back specialist who can usually treat the problem. In other cases, your chiropractor may refer you to an appropriate specialist.
How Is It Treated?
Most low back pain can be treated without surgery. The goal of treatment is to restore proper function and strength to the back and prevent recurrence of the injury. Treatment options for back pain can include:
- Using over-the-counter pain relievers to reduce discomfort and using anti-inflammatory drugs to reduce inflammation should be done only after seeing a chiropractor. Medications are often used to treat acute and chronic low back pain but recall that those medications go all over the body, exposing you to side-effects. Effective back pain relief may involve a combination of prescription drugs and over-the-counter remedies along with the manual therapy a chiropractor will offer.
- Although the use of cold and hot compresses has never been scientifically proven to quickly resolve low back injury, compresses may help reduce pain and inflammation and allow greater mobility for some individuals.
- Bed rest is recommended for only 1 to 2 days at most. Individuals should resume activities as soon as possible.
- Exercise may be the most effective way to speed recovery from low back pain. Exercise will help strengthen back and abdominal muscles.
- In the most serious cases, when the condition does not respond to other therapies, surgery may relieve pain caused by back problems or serious musculoskeletal injuries.
Prognosis for People With Back Pain
Most patients with back pain recover without residual functional loss, but individuals should contact a doctor if there is not a noticeable reduction in pain and inflammation after 72 hours of self-care. Recurring back pain resulting from improper body mechanics or other non-traumatic causes have been often preventable. In order to help prevent back pain injuries, people should:
- Engage in exercises that don’t jolt or strain the back
- Maintain correct posture
- Lift objects properly.
Many work-related injuries are caused or aggravated by stressors such as:
- Heavy lifting
- Vibration
- Repetitive motion
- Awkward posture.
Applying ergonomic principles — designing furniture and tools to protect the body from injury — at home and in the workplace can greatly reduce the risk of back injury and help maintain a healthy back.
Back Injury Prevention
Exercising regularly, maintaining a healthy diet, and practicing good back care at work and home are easy ways to prevent back injury. One of the best things you can do is to exercise regularly and keep your back muscles strong. Practicing good posture, supporting your back properly, and avoiding heavy lifting are also important components of prevention.
Back Injury Prevention: An Overview
Recurring back pain resulting from improper body mechanics or other nontraumatic causes is often preventable. In order to help prevent injuries, people can:
- Do a combination of exercises that don’t jolt or strain the back
- Maintain correct posture
- Lift objects properly.
There are a number of things you can do as part of preventing back injury, such as:
- Exercise
- Diet
- Proper back care at work and home.
Exercises That Can Prevent Back Injury
One of the best things you can do as part of back injury prevention is to exercise regularly and keep your back muscles strong. Exercises that increase balance and strength can decrease your risk of falling and injuring your back or breaking bones. Exercises such as tai chi and yoga — or any weight-bearing exercise that challenges your balance — are good for increasing balance and strength.
Proper Diet as a Part of Back Injury Prevention
Maintaining a healthy diet is also important in preventing back injuries because maintaining a healthy weight will help you avoid putting unnecessary and injury-causing stress and strain on your back. In order to keep your spine strong, you will need to get enough calcium and vitamin D in your diet, which will help prevent osteoporosis.
Osteoporosis is responsible for a lot of the bone fractures that lead to back pain. Calcium can be found in dairy products; green, leafy vegetables; and fortified products, like orange juice. Although your skin makes vitamin D when you are in the sun, you can obtain it from your diet as well.
Vitamin D is found in milk and foods that are fortified with this nutrient. However, most adults do not get enough calcium and vitamin D in their diet. Therefore, you should talk to your doctor about how much calcium and vitamin D you need per day, and consider taking a nutritional supplement or a multivitamin.
Proper Back Care at Work and Home
Practicing good posture, supporting your back properly, and avoiding heavy lifting can help to prevent back injuries. If you need to lift something heavy, keep your back straight and lift by putting the stress on your legs and hips.
Many work-related injuries are caused or aggravated by stressors such as:
- Heavy lifting
- Vibration
- Repetitive motion
- Awkward posture
Contact stress (repeated or constant contact between soft body tissue and a hard or sharp object, such as resting a wrist against the edge of a hard desk or repeated tasks using a hammering motion).
Applying ergonomic principles — designing furniture and tools to protect the body from injury — at home and in the workplace can greatly reduce the risk of back injury and help maintain a healthy back. More companies and homebuilders are promoting ergonomically designed tools, products, workstations, and living spaces reduce the risk of musculoskeletal injury and pain.
The use of wide elastic belts that can be tightened to “pull in” lumbar and abdominal muscles to prevent low back pain remains controversial. A landmark study of the use of lumbar support or abdominal support belts worn by people who lift or move merchandise found no evidence that the belts reduced back injury or back pain.
The two-year study, reported by the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH) in December 2000, found no statistically significant difference in either the incidence of workers’ compensation claims for job-related back injuries or the incidence of self-reported pain among workers who reported they wore back belts daily, compared to those workers who reported never using back belts or reported using them only once or twice a month.
Although there have been anecdotal case reports of injury reduction among workers using back belts, many companies that have back belt programs also have training and ergonomic awareness programs. The reported injury reduction may be related to a combination of these or other factors.
via Blogger http://chiropractic-lane.blogspot.com/2013/08/back-pain-what-to-do-about-it.html
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