We mentioned before the acute stage of lower back pain, now we will talk about extreme lower back pain. This kind of pain is a longer lasting pain in a subacute or chronical stage, lasting more than a couple of weeks. It need urgent medical attention.
A patient with extreme lower back pain problems often cannot even walk, lie down or sleep so many other problems arise out on the open also. The pain is not getting smaller, just the opposite: it gets stronger, the muscles become less elastical, and in lots of cases doctor after doing extensive medical test, prescribes an urgent vertebrae or spine laser operation. Extreme lower back pain can only be operated when there is a positive assurance, the spine is not damaged too far, the discs between two vertebrae did not slip away and so on.
Usually there are very long waiting lines for these kind of operations and when a patient comes to a stage he or she cannot stand such extreme lower back pain, strong anti pain medications are needed. The pain becomes much stronger with nerve irritations. Such person tries to find the right position to prevent having extreme lower back pain, so he or she moves and stands differently as in normal condition without extreme lower back pain.
To ease such paing ice or heat can help. Put a simple ice cube in a cloth and put it on the spot where you experience most intense and extreme lower back pain. The pain will surely not go away but the muscle inflamation will be smaller and so they won’t tighten the vertebrae so much.
A doctor will order an appointment in CT clinic and probably also order a magnetic ressonance tests to see how severe your pain is. If there are some major discrepancies in spine, the operation will be hard and long-healing. If not you’re in luck. Such extreme lower back pain can be operated on a routine basis, and you will be back on your feet very quickly. Of course, you will have to be very very careful not to strain yourself ever again because this only leads into even more extreme lower back pain. Again, the most effective habbit everyone can do when recovering from such operation is walking. Walk, walk and again walk. Make your back muscles strong, so they can support your spine!
Extreme lower back pain
21. 10. 2011Sore back muscles
21. 10. 2011Have you ever had sore back muscles? I know I have. According to some scientific researches aproximately 80% of world population suffer from it. It is the second most common pain, right after a headache. So I was wondering how to get rid of them and prevent them using some kind of apparatus, or a workout machine.
Doing some research on sore back muscles, I found, that despite this being a very common problem nowadays, there are not many efficient machines I could use to workout. I tried everything from TENS (Transcutaneous electrical nerve stimulation) machines to workout tables and even big rubber balls. Every single machine i used because of sore back muscles required a lot of time and space to put away when the workout is done. I never had the time or energy to put it away and dissasemble it and after copule of day repeat the whole procedure again. It is really time consuming, so I decided something else: I started walking! – a simple and inexpensive way for increasing your body fitness and preventing sore back muscles.
Walking is in my opinion the simplest way which inevitably leads to having almost perfect body shape, be fit and finally prevent such injuries when lifting heavy object that cause sore back muscles.
Walking is good for something else too: I started seeing my neighbours again. We drive to work, and from work, and we spend most of the day sitting inside these little boxes called houses which we have built with our hands (bytheway, there is another reason why I have sore back muscles). Our lifestyle has changed so much in these past years, we never walk to our neighbours house just to chat. No wonder we have sore back muscles! I think this kind of pain is also a reminder for us to work more on our relationships. People in the old days were doing something with their hands and feet. Today we only use our brains and our right hand for clicking a mouse button.
Yesterday I bought myself a pair of walking sticks, a map (so I wold not gest lost) and a cap. These are the only »machines« I need for not having sore back muscles. I dare you to do the same. Don’t buy those costly space consuming machines – why wouldn’t you rather walk to your neighbours house, say hello, and have a splendid time walking?
Lower back muscle pain
21. 10. 2011
Lower back muscle pain is most oftenly a consequence of straining. We rarely think when we must lift something heavy. Not being careful when doing heavy lifting can lead tu serious injuries and so lower back muscle pain is here!
Many emergency room visits are made through the year just because people do not take this problem seriously. In most cases, when lower back muscle pain did not move forward from an acute stage, the pain is gone in 4-5 days. But there are also many cases when a doctors visit is neccesary.
Muscle straining hapens when a muscle fibers are over-stretched, torn or damaged. Lumbar sprain occurs, when the fibers connecting the muscles to bones are stretched too far or even torn. The treatment is much the same for both.
The area around the muscles can become inflamed when lower back muscle pain starts. The back muscles can spasm and cause difficulties in moving freely as well as severe pain. Most often this is caused by lifting while twisting, falling, sudden and uncontrolled movement. Usually the pain is localizes and there is soreness upon touch. Resting is prescribed for most patients.
Lower back muscle pain fortunately heals with time because of a good blood supply in lower back muscles which brings the much needed nutritions and proteins.
When the pain becomes more severe the patient must rest in bed. Ice helps healig the lower back muscle pain, also pain medications or heat applications.
If nothing helps for more than two week and the patients still lies in bed, muscles may become weak. This process is called disuse atrophy (muscle wasting) and weakening. This causes even more lower back muscle pain as the muscles are not able to support the spine. So the patient is advised to start moving as soon as possible.
Doing regular exercises is essential to keep the spine and the muscles around it strong and healthy. A person who doesnt move averyday is likely to get lower back muscle pain from sitting in a chair than a person who takes jogging, biking and mountaneering. So before lifting something very heavy think before and not after the problems occur and lower back muscle pain starts. Be very careful and correct your standing position to avoid having back pains. Never lift heavy things all by youself, rather tha calling for help.
Low back exercises
21. 10. 2011
Regular low back exercises training is essential to prevent the consequences of vertebrae degeneration. It is nothing more important than strenghteninh and firming the muscles that support the spine. Exercises if done regularly is the most you can do for your spine and health.
Try selecting different low back exercises which will also influence your general body health. If you have been neglecting body training for some while now is a good time to start back. Before you begin it would be wise to consult which low back exercises your doctor reccomends. You must also do them according to doctors advice if you have ever had any spine desieases and want to start working out. If not, you could do more damage than use. Such exercises could make your problems even worse, your pain could get stronger and even your general condition could become worse. With the help of a doctor you should wisely choose which low back exercises are appropriate for your condition.
Biking, walking and swimming are suitable for almost every patient having spine pain and also for everyone who wants to start living a healthy life.
When starting regular low back exercises consider this: You havent lost your phisical condition in one day or one week, so there is no way to gain it back so quickly. Take one step at a time, be careful and start slowly. Be very patient because starting too fast will only increase your pain. It is recommended to make low back exercises 2-3 times a week. Skip a day or two, especially if you are recovering from some spine problem. When you progress a litle you can include many special low back exercises described bellow in your daily schedule without a problem.
If any of the exercises causes you pain, you must stop doing them and consult a doctor.
EXERCISE NO.1:
Lay your back to the ground an slowly lift your bottom up. After lifting it up for a few second rest a little and the do the exercise again.
EXERCISE NO.2:
Lay on the ground face down. Slowly lift your head and upper part of body along with your legs up. Stand for a few second and then rest.
EXERCISE NO.3:
Much similar to exercise described before, lay on the ground face downd. Then lift you left arm along with your right leg. Rest and the do the same with your right arm and left leg. It is called swimmg on the shore.
EXERCISE NO.4:
Stand on your knees and arms like a dog, facing forward. Bow downd your tummy, and lift your bottom and head up.
EXERCISE NO.5:
Lay down looking up. Slowly and gently start lifting both legs at the same time, so you reach the most upright position. Rest and do the exercise again.
Lower back pain
21. 10. 2011
Lower back pain problems start when restraining your muscles or being in weird standing positions for longer period of time. Lumbago as we also call lower back pain problems is a sudden pain in the lower back area. The causes of the pain can be various, but is most commonly connected to pathological-anatomical substrate which provokes a strong manifestation of pain. All spine movements are actually a result between two adjacent vertebrae.
The space between them is called vertebrae dynamical segment and most typical for lower back pain is that degenerative changes occur here. Every disc between two vertebrae is built of gelatin round core and around it is a fibrous ring. It is very hard, because of its intersecting structure. It connects the body of the vertebrae and allows their flexibility and gives the core the ability to act as a shock absorber. Because it is built into the vertebrae it also prevents the core to fall out of its place, thus causing even more degenerative pain as lower back pain.
So we see that the space between the two adjacent vertebrae acts much like a joint, though it is not built to be one. Degenerative changes first occur on the inter-vertebrae disc, being a result of aging, some kind of trauma or even a genetic cause. The consequences of this cause make vertebrae discs less elastic, its shape and size degenerates and the fiber which is made of become lose its fibrosis.
Such degenerative changes occur most often in the higher age groups but also in the mid age groups of people. Probably because of different lifestyle, sitting work, insufficient body activeness such causing lower back pain problems. When degenerative changes start also the first symptoms become more seen. The pain shows in the lower part of the spine because that is where the mechanical pressure is highest – statically and dynamically. On the spot where one more mobile vertebrae joins with less or even non mobile vertebrae the pressure is highest.
In most cases when lower back pain starts suddenly it will most likely be gone as quickly as it came, because the pressure on the spine is just instant and most patients dont even pay attention to it and they dont take any actions regarding. The pain is very strong and stabbing, and the muscles around them are become hard and pain is present.
The lower back pain problem becomes bigger when patients who have lower back pain problems that last several weeks finally come to a doctor. The tests are made, a common x-ray test find strong damage. If this occurs, the doctor will send us on a CT (computer tomography) tests. Rarely an MR (magnet resonance) is required.
The patients are then sent to a phisiotherapeutiy therapy to sustain the normally functional spine movement. Such patient normally starts living a normal life within a couple of weeks. Lower back pain is gone, but only if it was in its acute stage. When this acute stage passes (normaly in around 4-5 days) the pain is gone.
If the patients don’t treat lower back pain seriously, stronger and pronounced on the spine can occur, and a laser operation is recquired. Neurosurgery decides on whether an operation is recquired doing special test and x-ray results.
Spine problems
1. 10. 2011
Spine problems affect more than 80% of population. Musculoskeletal disorders are the second most common cause of missed work, thus affecting also the economy. The change in lifestyle in the past few years affects also our body. There is a lot more sitting work involved in our everyday life, we don´t have enough time to walk, we more and more often use different means of transportation rather than going by foot. People with spine problems often work in tough conditions, standing in forced position.
There are roughly three classifications of spine problems:
-acute (they commonly last about 4 weeks),
-sub acute (they last up to 3 months),
-chronical (longer period of time).
The treatment of acute spine problems can be very affective doing regular, but controlled exercises. With such exercises we can increase the strength of the muscles that support the spine and spinal cord and is also recommended for the prevention of spinal cord problems .
Getting workers with spine problems back to work as soon as possible should be the goal of every company. Some companies also have contracts with different chiropractics who treat these kind of spine problems because the abscense from work is a big problem.
Lying on the pillows under the chest facing forward instead of sitting in a chair is an appropriate exercise for releasing the spine. People with spine problems must also consider adapting the work place in such way it would prevent further spine complications. Good posture at all times is essential for straining the muscles as litle as possible during movement or bearing some weight.
Corect standing involves:
- Holding head up straight
- Keeping your chest forward
- Keeping knees straight
- Shoulder blades must go back
- Stomack must be in
- Adjust the table to a level that suits all of the above
- Avoid standing in forced position for a long time
To prevent having acute or even chronical spine problems exercise regularly. Do this everyday and keep in mind the rules of a correct standing. In such way your general health will surely improve and you will not only be preventing your abscense from work, but also look healthier and stronger. Another thing to remember is also to walk, go jogging and use a bike instead of a car to go from one place to another. Why not take a bike to work instead? You would spend less money for a car and gasoline and work for your health.