It Hurts When I Work

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.

Baby Makes My Back Hurt

When you’re pregnant, developing back pain is very normal.  The pain can range from mild to severe, but you just have to try and manage the pain as best you can.  There are some things you can do that will probably relieve a lot of the pain.  You can make sure you keep your posture straight and don’t start letting the baby pull you forward to the point you curve your spine.  Also you should try to do regular light exercise like yoga, some selective pilates or walking.

Why do pregnant women experience back pain besides the obvious weight of the baby?  One reason is that progesterone is produced in a greater quantity.  It’s a hormone that softens ligaments and tendons so a woman has an easier time during birth.  Another reason is the muscles are stretched to the point they can’t do their job of spine support as well.   Of course, all the memories of pregnancy back pain fade quickly once you meet your baby for the first time.

How Do I Know When Surgery is the Answer

Most back pain isn’t treated with surgery as much anymore.  Surgery is too risky.  But if you are considering whether to have surgery, you should make sure you’ve tried everything else first.  Spine surgery should always be a last choice and not a first option.  That means you might have to aggressively let your doctor know he or she should try everything in their arsenal of treatments before recommending surgery.  Also, the doctor should be able to tell you with certainty that surgery has a good chance of fixing what’s causing the pain.  That right there tells you why the number of spinal surgeries are declining.  It’s really hard to say with any certainty that surgery will fix a back pain problem.  You don’t want to be a guinea pig, but it’s up to you to tell the doctor.  I would see at least 2 and probably 3 different doctors before I’d agree to surgery.

What Kind of Test is That?

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.

I’m Deconditioned

There’s a term in the back pain field that’s called deconditioning. Conditioning is when you improve your muscle tone through strength building activities. Deconditioning is the exact opposite. You begin to limit what you do because your back hurts. Just like conditioning makes your back muscles stronger, deconditioning makes your back muscles weaker. The more you refuse to do activities, and the less you move, the weaker your muscles will get.

This can lead to some real back problems. When you avoid activity because your back hurts, you’re only going to make the problem worse. When muscles get weak they can’t support the spine the way they’re intended. Then the spine begins to have problems. The back pain can emanate from the muscles, the spine or both. It’s not a pretty sight or feeling. So don’t stop being active because of back pain. Instead you need to find ways to relieve the back pain.

Upside Down

If you have back pain and want to try something that will make it feel better, test a back pain inversion table. The table is easy to use and can be purchased for use at home. Basically it’s a tilting table.  You lie on it with your feet under a support so you don’t slide off.  Then you tilt the table as far as you want.  You don’t actually hang upside down, but it will tilt quite a ways.

The principle behind the table is the same principle as traction.  The point is to use something to pull the vertebrae in the back apart.  When you’re in traction, some kind of equipment is used to apply tension to your spine.  The inversion tables uses gravity.  The table only provides temporary relief though.  It’s not a long term solution to back pain.  But if it helps for even a little while, it’s worth a try if you have chronic or remittent pain.

Losing Control

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.

Be Careful Lifting That Box

There’s a right and wrong way to lift.  Lifting something the wrong way is one of the main reasons give for back sprains and muscle pulls.  You hear people say they “threw their back out” and it usually happens after trying to lift something improperly.   People use sloppy lifting posture when they get in a hurry.

When you lift something, you need to do it with the right form.  You want your back muscles to work the way they’re meant to work.  For starters, your feet should be shoulder width apart.  Then you want to bend the knees like you’re going to do a squat while keeping your back straight.  Finally, lift the object in a balanced manner while keeping the item close to your body.  When you extend your arms out it puts extra pressure on your back muscles.  The goal is to make your lower body do a lot of the pressure work so your back muscles aren’t strained.

A Good Night’s Sleep

Developing back pain is the perfect way to ruin a good night’s sleep.  But we live in a world that believes in having choices.  There’s plenty of products on the market that can help you sleep better even with back pain.  Some of them are expensive such as the specially designed mattresses, but others are well within reach of most budgets.

Even if you can’t afford one of the specialty mattresses, you can make sure you buy a sturdy mattress that doesn’t collapse with use.  Also, you should use pillows that maintain their support.  The pillow should keep your neck and head in line with your spine.  When your pillows get old and flat it’s time to buy new pillows.  They often advertise adjustable bed frames on television.  These frames let you raise your legs or head to relieve pressure on the spine.  If you’re having trouble sleeping due to back pain, check your bed and see if you need to replace what you’re sleeping on.

I’ll Try Anything – Even Exercise

A lot of back pain can be reduced by exercising.  It seems like such a contradiction, but it’s true.  The caveat is you don’t want to suddenly try to do a lot of exercises you’re not used to doing.  You need to ease into the exercise program and give your back time to adjust to the higher level of activity and motion.  Actually, the best thing to do is to exercise regularly to prevent back pain, but that’s another topic all together.

There are some tips you can follow for starting an exercise plan to reduce back pain.  First, you should start slowly as mentioned.  You should exercise according to your pain tolerance. You don’t want to quit at the first twinge, because there will be some pain at first. But I promise the pain will get better in most cases if you stick with the exercise program.  You want to begin with short 10 minute exercise session 2 or 3 times a day and then add on to the time as your back gets stronger.