Showing posts with label back pain. Show all posts
Showing posts with label back pain. Show all posts

Tuesday, 16 April 2013

Avoiding Back Pain With Yard Work

Yard work and maintaining the lawn is a good stress reliever for some people. Many homeowners enjoy being outdoors when the weather is nice. However, it is called yard "work" for a reason and while enjoyable there are a lot of efforts needed to get the work done. Bending over to pull weeds, the constant vibration from sitting on a riding mower or using a push mower can all increase pain levels for someone who was injured in an auto accident. Pain can make an enjoyable hobby like gardening or a household duty such as yard work un-enjoyable. This loss of enjoyment factor must be documented in the doctors' notes so the attorney representing the patient can settle the claim with more ease after the patients doctor or rehab facility helps them feel better.
Once you are out of the initial acute phase of your injury and have been cleared by your doctor to become more active, you should take it slow so you don't re-aggravate the injury. Also instead of doing outdoor tasks that you would normally do in one day, spread the task out over the course of the weekend or get someone to help you with the work.
Here are some tips to follow before going outside to perform yard work after suffering from back pain.
  1. Drink plenty of water before, during and after being outside to avoid dehydration

  2. Stretch before going outside to perform yard work. Make sure the muscles in the low back are loose so you don't put excess strain on the area.

  3. When bending over, make sure you lift using your legs. Avoid picking anything up by just bending over and coming right back up.

  4. NEVER twist your body when you are leaning over. (this is a compromising position for the spine and can be problematic)

  5. Use knee pads if you will be doing gardening task to decrease stress on your joints.

  6. Take breaks frequently so that your muscles don't fatigue in one certain position and go into spasm.

Dealing with back pain at home following an accident can hinder your normal activity but it doesn't have to stop it completely. As long as you make some minor changes to keep yourself out of trouble, you can still perform your hobby without worry.
I'm a good referral for your neighbor who mentions not being able to spend as much time doing yard work because of the pain they feel after their auto accident. Have them call me and I will bring the enjoyment back to their life!

Best Treatment for Lower Back Pain

There is no single regimen that can be considered as the best treatment for lower back pain. The wide array of back pain causes and the varying severity of each cause require that treatment methods are specifically tailored to each individual condition. Thus, it is hard to say only rest, medication or surgery can be considered as the best options for treating lower back pain for every single case that is diagnosed.
Of course, from the perspective of preference and convenience, doctors hope that rest, therapy and other non-invasive treatments will be sufficient for treating most lower back problems. This is because prescribing rest, therapy and pain medication implies that the condition has not progressed beyond the point where it already requires surgery. For doctors and patients alike, this is great news. After all, no one would want to risk surgery given all the potential complications that may arise from the procedure.
However, there are also times when surgery becomes the best treatment for lower back pain and no other method will suffice. This is usually because a herniated disc is damaged enough that it is permanently pressing on the nerve roots surrounding its location resulting in extreme and continuous pain. When this happens, rest or medication may not be sufficient to treat the condition. Even epidural injections only provide temporary and short relief when a herniated disc has progressed to a significantly advanced stage. Under these circumstances surgery may become the only option for a permanent and satisfactory solution.
There are many types of back surgery that can be used for treating lower back pain. In the mildest of cases, the protruding spinal disc is shaved so that the mass of bone impinging on the nerves is reduced. In more advanced cases, removal of the disc is required. When this happens, recovery time can take up to 3 months, but if done successfully it will provide permanent relief from the nagging pain brought about by the herniated disc.
Naturally, at the core of assessing which is the best treatment for lower back pain is the debate between necessity, benefit, and risk. This is what doctors use to decide which treatment procedure to prescribe to a specific patient. Is this procedure necessary? Are there other procedures that carry fewer risks and will still hopefully deliver the same benefit? Would you want to risk a serious back operation if a 2 or 3 week bed rest along with medication would do the job? Doctors constantly weigh these considerations in order to provide their patients with the best and safest option for treating lower back pain.
So the next time you suffer from severe back problems, do not immediately start trying a lot of self- help techniques for treating lower back pain. Instead, see a doctor to get a more complete picture of your condition. Go through the diagnostic steps. Assess your options. Only after you've done this will you have enough knowledge to choose the right treatment plan. When done properly, you can be confident that your chosen treatment method is the best for your specific condition. In the end, that is all matters. As long as you are getting pain relief by using the lowest risk options available, then you have done a superb job in making sure you are getting the best treatment for lower back pain.

How to Help Heal Back Pain Naturally

For many people, chronic back pain is not just a problem that is dealt with through rest or medications. For most of the people who have back pain in any time of life, it is a long-term struggle to complete daily tasks and maintain productivity and efficiency. More importantly, there are a number of people who need help, but do not particularly want to use all the modern medical treatments that might not be great for the body. In the following article, we are going to provide 3 separate ways that you can use in order to heal your back pain naturally and easily.
Healing Back Pain Naturally
One of the main things that everyone needs to understand is that the pain comes mostly due to less frequent use. There are literally millions of back pain sufferers who would benefit from regular exercise that would give the joints a little bit of movement. These days, the back is almost always in the same location, which is terribly bad for the back.
The most effective way to get moving and active is through swimming, which is a non-impact sport that will help you to get rid of the pain over the long-term. It helps to stretch out your entire body and makes you far more likely to feel relief rather than pain. People who sleep on their back with bad back pain often feel as though they are a bit better in the morning. This is often due to the straightening effect that sleeping has. This can be replicated by using a regular routine of swimming.
Another way to alleviate the pain in a natural way is to use yoga. This is also a non-intensive way to solve your pain problem, which can also increase flexibility. Overall, it is a great idea to get into the habit of doing yoga for the rest of your body, but it will relieve the pain as well.
Other Natural Methods
There are some other natural methods that you can use in order to get rid of your back pain naturally as well. You can try to do some massages that are done by a professional with a certification in the type that you need. Whether or not you feel serious pain, you must make sure to tell them about the pain so that they can help you to get rid of it rather than aggravating the problem. In many cases, people who get natural back massages feel far better and reduce the pain much quicker than those who get injections or other kinds of medical products that are not great for the overall health.
There are a number of great methods that you can find in order to naturally heal, but you must be willing to put in some time and effort before you see results. This is a much more sustainable model for bringing happiness into your life with the lack of pain that you often feel.

Tuesday, 2 November 2010

Can Back Exercise Help Back Pain?

By Kevin Rudick

Performing back exercises can be a very important strategy
for relieving back pain. However, it is important to know
the right exercises to do so that you don't make things
worse. Thus, it is our suggestion that you seek the advice
of a physician or physical therapist prior to beginning any
new routine.

Great benefits can be had from yoga-based movements intended
to stretch the spine, as they help build back strength and
flexibility which increase physical endurance. Several types
of back complaints can be helped in this way, and more
severe conditions such as herniation of the discs can
possibly be prevented.

Other back exercises that are effective for pain relief
include forward and backward bends, side bends and spinal
twists. In most cases you can perform different versions of
these according to how flexible your back is. For example
you can do a spinal twist sitting on a chair, sitting on the
floor or lying on your back (the supine spinal twist).

You must take care to always keep your stretching balanced.
This means that if you curl or twist the spine in one
direction, you should balance this with a stretch in the
other direction. Most of us are more flexible on one side or
the other so you will probably find that you can take a
stretch further in one direction. Just go as far as you
comfortably can on both sides, no more.

Abdominal exercises can also help in strengthening the back
muscles, especially those of the lower back. The classic
abdominal crunch or the bicycle crunch can help prevent back
pain as well as giving you a firmer, stronger abdomen.

Back exercises are not like many workouts where you aim to
feel the burn. You should feel a stretch in the targeted
area, but not actual pain. Always stop if the exercise
becomes uncomfortable. Excessive stretches do not produce
worthwhile benefits.

Kevin is a contributing writer to the
(http://backpainandsciaticarelief.com/) Back Pain Sciatica
site. You might be interested in his latest article: Finding
the Best
(http://backpainandsciaticarelief.com/chair-for-sciatica/)
Sciatica Chair.

Sunday, 22 March 2009

Core Strengthening Exercises: Love Your Back

Woman exercising with yoga ball


Core stability and core strengthening exercises are a much
overlooked, but vital, part of a comprehensive workout
routine and back health maintenance.

Twist. Turn. Bend over. Sit all day. Get in and out of the
car. Carry those groceries. We put our back through all
kinds of stuff, and it never complains. Or does it? If we're
out of shape in our core muscles, our back will let us know
pretty quick. The core muscles support the lower back and
internal organs, and if we stop taking care of them, like
most of us have, we are in for some soreness and more and
more days of pain the longer we let it go on.

And our workout routines become ever more risky; we always
are on the edge of straining our back.

OK, then, what are some really good core strengthening
exercises to do?

1. Pilates. Get in with the girls and do Pilates! Now, for
some reason, Pilates has a sort of wimpy reputation, but I
know first hand that a good Pilates routine will kick some
serious behind! I've gotten a lot stronger core since I
incorporated Pilates-type exercises into my regular workout
routine.

2. The Farmer's Walk. This is really a whole body exercise,
but your core will work real hard, as will your back, legs,
arms and hands. Just go pick up two very heavy dumbbells,
and carry them over to the other side of the room and back
again. Maybe another time. Your core will work overtime to
keep you balanced and stable.

3. The Wood Chopper. Hold a medicine ball in both hands over
your head and off to one side. Then, as if you were chopping
wood, swing it down and over toward the opposite foot. Then
swing it back up along the same path. Do that several times,
and switch sides. Make sure you use your legs and hips to
help keep your back from bending too much.

4. Saxon Bends. These are tough. Take that ball again, or a
weight plate if you need more weight, and hold it over your
head. Now bend over to one side, without bending your back
from front to back. You're just going side to side. When
you've gone as far over as you can, head on over to the
other side. Back to center again is one.

You can incorporate these exercises in your regular workout.
Put 'em in the middle, use them as a warm up (they are great
for warming up and getting away from the treadmill), or do
them at the end. Or devote a whole workout just to core
strengthening exercises; your body will thank you!

Wednesday, 21 January 2009

Want To Stop Suffering From Back Pain?

Back pain is one of the most common medical problems that
Americans tend to suffer from. The internet is one of the
first places that people come to try to find information on
how to treat back pain.

With today's technology and advanced medicine; you may be
wondering why is back pain such a huge issue? One of the
biggest factors and reasons that people seem to suffer from
this problem is because they do not know how to properly
take care of their body to prevent this issue.

Do you want to know what you can do to prevent or get rid of
your constant aching back pain? Well then, here are a few
useful tips to improve your mobility and avoid back pain.

1. Posture: The truth is that we do not take proper care of
our posture and therefore it tends to show when we begin
having back problems. If you are not watching how you sit or
stand then you can begin to experience back pain later on
in life.

2. Elderly: People tend to believe that as they age they are
expected to have back problems. The truth is that if you
give your body the right types of food and exercise then you
can avoid these types of issues as you become older.

3. Daily Diet: Our diet will always play a huge role in whether
we will begin to experience back pain or not. In fact if you
are currently overweight then most likely that may be one of
the reasons that you are having these issues.

4. Exercise: Exercise and diet are extremely vital for
helping our bodies and bone structure become strong and able
to do our everyday activities without having to worry about
being in pain.

Try this: When you walk, tuck in your stomach and push your
shoulders forward and your chest out. Also keep your chin up.
This is the correct posture when walking. Tough to maintain
isn't it? especially when you have been slouching all your life.

Taking care of your back should become one of your biggest
priorities; so that you can avoid future pain as you become
older.