Emergency Measures For Back Pain

If you get an acute episode of back pain, the following advice should help you in the short term, however if your pain persists for more than a few days, it's imperative you seek medical advice.

Chronic pain is often pain not treated appropriately at the acute stage. (Please don't let yourself get to the chronic pain stage just for the sake of not asking for medical help quickly enough)...

Don't lie in bed unless the pain is so bad, you don't have any other choice. Even then, keep the bed rest to a minimum. Ok I'm mean, but bed rest for back problems can often make them worse. So try and keep moving as much as you can.

Use pain killing gel or simple pain killers or anti inflammatories such as paracetamol or Ibuprofen. (Check with your pharmacist for something suitable, and please be careful if you're pregnant, asthmatic or suffering indigestion)...

Applying an icepack to the affected area is a super idea. It soothes the pain, and helps reduce inflammation. (A bag of frozen peas is a useful alternative).

If more of a chronic pain, a warm shower or bath will help as will a hot water bottle. Always remember though to make sure your hot water bottle (or frozen peas etc) are covered with a towel or something, (Don't want you getting burns).

Other measures

It's imperative you get a diagnosis for any type of back pain. Often when people visit a doctor or specialist, it's found (after investigations) that although your spine is moaning and complaining, there isn't anything serious underlying the pain, however there are some "red flag" symptoms you ignore at your peril...

Pain after a major injury

Pain that never disappears, or gets worse

Numbness, pins and needles or weakness in your legs. You would need to see your doctor urgently if this was progressive, situated around your bum or affecting both your legs...

Difficulty in passing urine or opening your bowels. (Again cause to see your doctor immediately).

Pain and or numbness down the back of the leg to your foot. (May be indicative of sciatica).

Back pain which is associated with pain in your tummy or chest.

Backache plus weight loss, sweating episodes or general feelings of being unwell.

Backache during or after any treatment received for cancer.

And finally

To avoid obvious causes of back pain,

Check your bed...

Is it properly supporting your back? (Please don't tell me you have back problems, and you're sleeping on a health bed), they are far too hard. Your bed needs to be comfortable and supportive.

Driving
Ensure you can reach the steering wheel as well as the foot pedals, gear stick etc comfortably.

At home
Use non slip mats in the bathroom, Avoid bending to do any household tasks (Squat), Ensure work surfaces are waist height. Sit down to peel the veg...

Ensure your ironing board is at waist height, and do just small amounts frequently. Ensure the iron is not too heavy for you.

Kneel when making the beds or cleaning the bath, squat when emptying/loading the washer/dryer etc. Be extra careful (Again squat), if you have a very low oven...

Keep frequently used items in cupboards at waist height, and less frequently used in the harder to reach cupboards.

Using these tips will help to keep your back healthy and pain free

Kim is a Back Care Advisor working in the UK for a large hospital Trust. She is passionate about Back Care, and can be found at www.backpain-free.com and www.nursing-hints.com.

Back Pain And The Office Worker

Back Pain and Facts

At least 120 million working days are lost every year because of people's back problems.

Back Pain and Facts

At least 120 million working days are lost every year because of people's back problems.

10% of all major back injuries take place whilst handling, lifting or carrying.

Nearly two thirds of adults mostly in their 20's and 50's, experience back problems.

Back Pain is the single greatest cause for time off work through ill health.

Every person complaining of back pain, and any related condition, takes an average of 13 days off work.
(Shocking huh)

Unfortunately, you won't find a magic wand to cure your back problems, but you will find that you can improve or prevent a lot of problems by adopting back-friendly work habits.

Manual Handling

If you think about it, we all manually handle throughout every day of our lives, but have you ever stopped to think just how you go about it...

Do you bend from the waist (naughty),
Do you twist without moving your feet,
Do you slouch in your office chair,

How do you pick boxes, or your screaming toddler up from the floor?

If you sat down and thought about the weight you lift during a normal day, you would probably die from shock because it probably run into tons... Ha, is there any wonder you have those aches and pains?

If you must lift something...

Bend your knees rather than your back,
Keep your feet wide apart to provide stability (This is really important)
Carry objects close to your body
Bend again at the knees to put the object down
When carrying loads, try and lighten them, i.e. try and break them down into lighter smaller loads and store them in areas which are easily accessible.

How do you rate when working in an office?

Make sure your chair is comfortable and adjusted for you, (not everyone else)

Sit so your pelvis is upright
Try and ensure your thighs are at a 110 degree angle to your trunk

Ensure the lumbar support of your chair fits the small of your back so it maintains the natural S shape of your spine

Ensure the armrests of the chair touch your forearms, when your shoulders and elbows are relaxed at your side (This helps to avoid strain in your neck and upper limbs)

Ensure the seat depth allows your bottom to be at the back of the seat with a two finger gap between the front edge of the seat and behind the knees. (Ensures adequate thigh support whilst allowing movement without obstruction).

Make full use of the chair movement especially when reaching for items such as the phone

Don't slouch
Alter your position frequently when using a keyboard
Move if you are uncomfortable. (It's surprising how many people don't)

Change your posture frequently to give your muscles a break
Take frequent breaks from your desk (And no it's not an excuse for a cigarette break)

Keep your mouse and telephone as close as possible (Allowing you to remain relaxed and in a natural position at your desk)

Ensure your monitor is square on so you don't have to turn your head to look at it. (Document holders are handy)

Ensure your screen is at arms length away from your face so the top of the screen is horizontal to your eye line.

The next time you are at work again, open your eyes, and just see how much damage your office job is doing to your back...You just might be shocked.

Kim is a Back Care Advisor working in the UK for a large hospital Trust. She's passionate about back Care, and can be found at www.backpain-free.com and www.nursing-hints.com.

Massage Chairs Offer Relief from Obesity Related Back Pain

According to the American Obesity Society 64.5 percent of Americans over twenty years old are overweight and 30.5 percent are obese. These figures represent the growing epidemic of obesity in the United States which is costing billions of dollars in additional health care expenses. Each year, increasing numbers Americans are finding themselves classified as clinically obese and are suffering from one or more of over thirty obesity related diseases. Premier Massage Chairs .org www.premiermassagechairs.org offers natural solutions for a variety of obesity related health problems.

The most serious obesity related health complications are coronary heart disease, diabetes and high blood pressure. Another, less discussed obesity related health complication, is back pain. Increased occurrence of back pain in obese people is caused by the added strain on the spine from excess body weight. The body is designed to function under healthy weight conditions combined with regular exercise. Obesity however creates stressful conditions that the spine is unable to adapt too. Added weight causes the spine to increase its natural curve causing the pelvis to tip forward. This compensation decreases the structural stability of the spine causing overall back health to decline.

Some of the more common obesity related spinal problems are osteoporosis, osteoarthritis and rheumatoid Arthritis. Osteoporosis decreases bone density, increasing the likelihood of painful and disabling fractures. The risk of osteoporosis is increased with lack of exercise and a poor diet. Osteoarthritis and rheumatoid arthritis are caused by unnatural pressure placed on the joints from excess body weight. Massage chairs are an excellent means for relieving this pressure and improving over all back health www.premiermassagechairs.org/education.html.

The most effective way to help relieve obesity related back problems is to lose weight. Even loosing just ten or fifteen pounds can greatly improve spinal health. Massage therapy is another useful way to reduce back pain. Massage stimulates blood circulation, increasing the flow of healing nutrients to the joints and muscles, as well as helping the body flush pain causing lactic acids and other toxins from sore muscles.

Electric massage chairs are an affordable way to receive the pain relieving benefits of massage therapy. Visit the Premier Massage Chairs website www.premiermassagechairs.org to see our full line of shiatsu massage chairs www.premiermassagechairs.org/our-massage-chairs.html. Premier Health Products produces the highest quality massage chairs on the market including the most advanced chair to date, the PHP-2026 www.premiermassagechairs.org/massage-chair-php-2026.html. Premier Massage Chairs www.premiermassagechairs.org also offers the NASA engineered Premier Health Products PHP-2022 Zero Gravity Massage Chair www.premiermassagechairs.org/massage-chair-php-2022.html. This chair is designed to evenly distribute the bodys weight for reduced spine pressure and better circulation. Both of these chairs deliver professional quality massages for under a dollar per use and are an excellent way to relieve back pain caused by obesity.

For more information please contact us at 1-800-608-5488/premiermassagechairs.org

Distributors of the highest quality massage chairs on the market.

A Closer Look at Lower Back Pain Relief

As many as 8 out of 10 adults will experience back pain in their lifetime, and most of them will feel it in their lower back.  When we consider that our lower back bears the brunt of our body weight, and that our back is made up of many vertebrae, a few discs to absorb shock, several major nerves and joints that allow for movement of the spine, stacked on top of each other, this statistic begins to make more sense.

Back pain is either acute, appearing quickly and intensely after an accident or injury and lasting only a short while, or chronic, recurrent pain that can come seemingly out of nowhere.  The direct causes of chronic back pain are rarely obvious simple movements, arthritis, bad posture, obesity, and internal disorders can all cause our backs to ache. 

It is important to try to pinpoint the cause so you can get the most appropriate type of treatment for your low back pain.  Doctors often recommend medications for lower back pain relief.  Both over-the-counter and prescription medicines can ease lower back pain, and Non-Steroidal Anti-Inflammatory Drugs (NSAIDs), which include aspirin and ibuprofen, can significantly reduce inflammation as well as back pain.  Acetaminophen, available in many over-the-counter medicines, acts as an analgesic and is often used to treat acute pain.  Occasionally doctors prescribe opioids or muscle relaxants for severe pain, although these can be habit-forming.  Once common, doctors prescribe back surgery less often nowadays, which usually involves implanting one of several medical devices to stabilize and fuse the spine.

The medical community is now questioning the efficacy of bed rest, once thought to be essential for healing and lower back pain relief.  Medical studies seem to prove just the opposite that exercise is the real healer.  Specific exercises strengthen back muscles, increase flexibility and tone, and pump fluid into back discs, alleviating soreness caused by disc dehydration.  Getting up and moving or performing physical therapy can relieve back pain.

Many sufferers say they have experienced lower back pain relief through acupuncture, an ancient Chinese treatment in which needles are placed in specific points on the body.  Chiropractic, whose practitioners realign the vertebrae of the spine to correct imbalances in the musculoskeletal system, provides relief for others.  Whichever type of treatment one chooses, it is important to remember that there are many causes of lower back pain, and no one treatment will work for everyone.

Pain Relief provides detailed information on arthritis, back, joint, lower back, natural, chronic, neck, sciatica, knee, fibromyalgia, and muscle pain relief. For more information go to Pain Relief and/or visit its sister site at  Acid Reflux Web for related information.

Back Problems And Pain, The Emotion Connection

Back problems and chronic back pain is one of the most common problems in America today. It is the second most common medical complaint. Over 60% of all Americans have experienced back pain. The toll is immense.

Yet few sufferers or their doctors look for the deeper cause of back problems. Most are simply treating the symptoms without ever investigating the emotional causes of back problems and pain.

It is becoming a more accepted way of thought that many physical problems with the body human have a root connection to the emotions. Thought and belief can affect you in a physical way! Dr. Andrew Weil of the University Of Arizona is becoming famous with his approach to treating the whole being instead of just the body, or just symptomatically trying to eliminate diseasements.

From an emotional standpoint, the main issue that affects our backs in an adverse way is the feeling that one has no support in life. Feeling as if you have no one supporting you emotionally is the leading emotional tie to a back problem. This feeling may be left over from childhood and have no basis in reality as an adult, but the seeds of this have been sown and need to be dealt with.

Looking deep within, and then dragging this feeling to the surface is the best approach. Is it left from your childhood or adolescence? Is it true of your life today?

If this emotion is left from your childhood and has nothing to do with your current relationships, then it is time to release this and let it go. You can write down how you feel about the ways in which you were treated, and then burn them to release them. You can seek some therapy, or try coaching for help. You might even need to actually confront the people that left you feeling as if you never were supported as a child.

If it is true of your current relationships, then it may be time to take honest stock of them and make some changes. It may be that low self-esteem has caused you to seek out and establish relationships with "takers" who never seem to give back. Again, you might need some therapy or coaching to get past this problem. Perhaps just seeing it for what it really is will give you the strength to change your relationships.

Affirmations can help as well. Some good ones to say are: "I am supportive of myself." "I am supporting myself." "I am surrounded by supportive people, and have all the support that I need in life." "I am standing up for myself." "I am standing upright for myself." "I am moving forward in my life, surrounded by supportive people and pain-free."

Eliminating stress from your life is essential to good back health. Stress contributes tremendously to tight muscles, a constant adrenaline rush of "fight or flight" and feelings of helplessness. Look around and do what you can to cut the stressors in your life. Give up the feeling that you must be super-human and that you have to control everything!

For pain relief, try this: put an ice cube on a plate. Find a comfortable, quiet place to sit, relax and just watch the ice cube melt. As it melts, say to yourself that the pain is melting away along with the ice. All stress, pain, fear and worry are just melting away.

Be aware that you are all the support that you really need in your life. You are more than capable of being supportive of yourself if you will only allow yourself to be.

No matter how debilitating your back problems are, if you will work on this, it will help if you can be open to the possibility that it will. You have nothing to lose and everything to gain with the attempt.

Please, feel free to email me and let me know if this helped you or if it did not! sibyl@www.circle-of-grace.com

Sibyl McLendon is 1/2 Navajo, and is a personal spiritual coach for Circle Of Grace http://www.circle-of-grace.com.
Circle Of Grace is a unique blending of Native American spirituality and holistic wellness coaching. Sign up for a free coaching session!
Sibyl can be contacted at sibyl@www.circle-of-grace.com