Go Ahead and Shock Me
Posted on February 17, 2009
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When I think of electrical stimulation I can’t help but think of the old Frankenstein movies. Yet electrical stimulation is used as one of the treatments for back therapy. Of course, it’s been given a long medical name which is Transcutaneous Electrical Nerve Stimulation or TENS. It makes me want to ask which came first - the acronym or the name.
This is how TENS works. A physical therapist uses special medical equipment that can dish up low level electricity directed to the muscle through electrodes on the skin. The whole point of the treatment is to make your brain forget about pain for a while and think about the electrical stimulation. This can be a great temporary solution, but it won’t last. It’s good for those people who really need a break from the pain, but don’t consider it an answer to your back pain problems.
An MRI Anyone?
Posted on October 7, 2008
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It seems like every time I watch the news concerning healthy living updates I hear the acronym MRI. It’s treated in people’s mind like it’s an X-ray, but it really is something completely different. People with back pain often get an MRI when the doctor is trying to figure out what’s causing the problem. An MRI shows a lot more than an X-ray.
MRI actually stands for Magnetic Resonance Imaging. It uses radio waves and a magnetic field to create a clear picture of your spine. Some people don’t like to get an MRI, because you have to lie still in a long tube that’s open at both ends. It can be hard to handle if you have any claustrophobia. The newer machines are now made with some added features such as music intended to be distracting. The MRI can be a real important test when trying to diagnose the source of back pain. If the doctor wants you to have one, you should agree because it gives a lot more information about soft tissue which doesn’t show up on X-rays.
Losing Control
Posted on September 23, 2008
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Most back pain can be handled with traditional home treatments. But one problem deserves immediate attention by a physician. If you can’t control your bowels or bladder, you need to see a doctor right away. Loss of control can indicate something is compressing the nerves in your lower spine. I don’t want to scare you, but this can be very serious. If the nerves are compressed for too long they may be permanently damaged. Other symptoms of this condition include a loss of feeling in the groin and being unable to urinate.
Fortunately, this condition is not common. The nerves that control your bladder and bowel are in the lower spine. It just goes to prove once again that a spine problem can manifest itself in unusual ways. There’s a name for the condition just discussed. It’s called cauda equine syndrome. That’s a fancy name for “get thee to a doctor” in my language.
It Hurts When I Work
Posted on September 9, 2008
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The world doesn’t stop for back pain. That means you may get a few days off because of back pain, but eventually you have to go to work. The best thing to do is learn some office moves and positions that will keep your spine muscles from tightening and your spine from compressing. You also want to prevent back pain as much as possible of course.
When you’re at work try doing some light spine stretching exercises throughout the day. You don’t have to make a big scene. You just need to do some things like forward stretches, neck rolls and some twisting moves. You should do these exercises gently though and don’t go overboard with the twisting moves. The goal is to keep the back limber so it doesn’t tense up. If you need a new chair that gives low back support, you should show your boss proof you have a back problem. Most companies go out of their way today to accommodate health problems.
Because I Was an Athlete
Posted on September 2, 2008
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There’s a back problem that is most frequently seen in people who are athletically active in their teenage years. It’s called spondylolisthesis which is where one vertebrae slips over another. It’s often the result of a spinal crack or defect, but is common in people who have been ballet dancers or football players or involved in other sports activities. Spondylothesis happens when someone subjects the spine to repeated bending backwards.
The “cure” for spondylothesis is to let the fracture heal. That’s what the vertebrae slipping is usually due to – a fracture in the spine. It can usually be corrected with a brace and cessation of athletic activities. Sometimes surgery is required and the two vertebrae are fused. Sometimes people go for years with slipped vertebrae. The fracture isn’t corrected early in life, because there’s little pain to indicate a problem exists. Unfortunately, this can result in back problems when you get older, because the spine heals incorrectly.
Go Ahead and Pull the Trigger
Posted on August 19, 2008
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One of the treatments for back pain is called a trigger point injection. A trigger point injection is where anesthetic is injected into muscles to relieve back pain. There can be more than one injection administered at a time. The point of the anesthetic is to deaden the area surrounding the point where the pain seems to generate.
Another type of injection is the facet injection. The facet joint is where two vertebrae meet and the joint enables you to use your spine for motion. The facet injection usually is a steroid, but it can be an anesthetic too like the trigger point injection. The difference is the facet injection is done on an outpatient basis using fluoroscopy. Fluoroscopy enables the physician to watch where the injection is reaching in the joint. You can only get temporary relief from pain of course. Both injections are just treatments and not cures.
What Kind of Test is That?
Posted on August 5, 2008
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When you visit your doctor for the first time about your back pain, there are several simple tests he or she will do. The doctor wants to find out if you have any spine problems or if the pain is coming from the muscles surrounding the spine. Diagnosing the source of back pain can be hard to do and the doctor isn’t going to jump to any conclusions without testing. The tests start real simple and then get progressively more complicated if necessary.
The first step in diagnosing back pain is the simple office physical. The doctor will have you lie on your back and will lift each leg straight up. If there’s no pain in the leg when this is done there’s probably no nerve damage. The doctor will also test for reflexes, muscle strength and skin sensations. As you can tell the physician is looking for signs any nerves are damaged. It’s good news if you pass these first tests.
Okay, I’ve Chosen Surgery
Posted on July 22, 2008
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Deciding whether to have back surgery can be a major decision. Everyone’s heard the war stories about surgeries gone wrong or surgeries that don’t result in less back pain. But the fact is that surgery is probably one of the best choices for permanent pain reduction when it’s clear what is causing the pain. You don’t ever have to feel forced to choose surgery unless there’s a chance of paralysis if you don’t have it. In that case, I can’t imagine choosing to avoid surgery.
The good news is that by the time you decide to have surgery, you’ve probably been through a complete battery of tests and have tried numerous other approaches to relieving your back pain. That means surgery has become the last alternative and appears to be the one that will work in your situation. I highly advise you to get a second opinion though no matter how good you think your doctor may be. The reason is because the cause of back pain can be so elusive. You certainly want to avoid surgery if it seems more like a guesswork solution.
How Come That Needle Doesn’t Hurt?
Posted on July 8, 2008
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I like to try alternative forms of back pain treatment whenever possible. Sometimes, the familiar stand-bys like analgesics or ice packs just don’t do the job of relieving the back pain. Before I’d even consider having surgery, I’d look into all forms of treatment including acupuncture.
Acupuncture has been around for over 5,000 years. It’s a Chinese treatment that believes we all have qi in our bodies. This qi is a life force and it roams our body. Acupuncture operates on the principle that certain points on our bodies give access to qi. If you can access the life force, then you control the back pain. Acupuncture actually uses a combination of physical and mental factors to give relief. Needles are painlessly inserted at the qi points to stimulate healing. Some people absolutely refuse to consider such a treatment, but in my opinion, it’s worth a try. When you have chronic back pain even temporary relief can be a blessing.
All Dried Up
Posted on July 1, 2008
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Getting a diagnosis of degenerative disc disease can be scary. It sounds so awful in several ways. Degenerative means a steady decline and disc disease indicates something abnormal is happening to your back. In essence, degenerative disc disease is when the disc between vertebrae starts drying out. If it gets dry enough the disc can eventually collapses and can cause other back problems.
The good news is that it’s really not a disease. Degenerative disc disease is a normal step in the aging process. Actually, a lot of things get drier in the body as it ages if you think about it including skin and hair. There’s really not a lot that can be done about degenerative disc disease itself. If the drying up of the disc causes other problems like vertebrae collapsing then there are several treatments that can be applied. For the most part, the best thing you can do is regular back exercises to keep the muscle support system strong.
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