NEWSLETTER- March, 2008

                                                By: the Pain Center and Healthy Living

 

Oh, that aching back!

 

Four out of five Americans will experience back pain at some point. The good news is you can prevent or alleviate most back pain with self-care techniques. You’ll fine those here, plus info on body mechanics, exercise, and treatment.

 

 

. Preventing Back Problems

 

Low back pain has many different causes, including the normal wear and tear that comes with aging. While you can’t turn back the hands of time or prevent every type of painful back disorder, in most cases there are things you can do to help keep your back healthy.

Stay fit
Staying active and in good physical condition is probably the most important thing you can do to maintain a healthy back. This strategy becomes even more important if you want to protect yourself from a relapse following an initial episode of acute back pain.

Experts believe that regular exercise helps prevent back pain by strengthening your back and abdominal muscles. Of course, physical activity also confers many other benefits. It helps you maintain a healthy weight, strengthens your muscles, improves the efficiency of your heart, reduces your blood pressure and stress levels, and lowers your risk for osteoporosis, diabetes, and colon cancer. It therefore makes sense to exercise regularly, but sensibly. If you’ve been leading a somewhat sedentary lifestyle, check with your doctor first so that you make sure to pace yourself appropriately, especially in the beginning.

Bicycling(either stationary or regular), swimming, and walking lead the list of low-risk, high-benefit activities for most people’s backs. All are low- or minimal-impact exercises that strengthen the erector spinae and abdominal muscles and stimulate secretion of endorphins (hormones that act as the body’s own painkillers). None involve awkward or stressful actions that are detrimental to back muscles — for example, requiring them to exert a lot of force. Participating in any or all of these activities at least three times a week is a good strategy for anyone who tends to have recurrent episodes of mild to moderate low back pain. Since they put little burden on your back, these exercises also offer exercise’s other benefits without placing your back at undue risk.

Countless other exercises and activities can strengthen your back, as well as your entire body. Choose any one (or any combination) of them that makes sense and feels good — and pursue it regularly. However, the motions and positions used in some sports pose a threat to your back and can thus offset any potential benefit of exercise in preventing back pain.

Common sense would suggest that sports such as football, gymnastics, wrestling, weight lifting, rowing (crew), and ballet involve a relatively high risk for back injury because of the extension, lifting, or impacts involved. Other unnatural motions that could induce pain include back arching (during gymnastics and diving), twisting (while hitting a golf ball, swinging at a baseball, or bowling), vertical jolting (while riding a horse), and stretching your legs strenuously (when hiking or when balancing a sailboat during a race).

If you don’t have any back woes, there’s no reason to curtail these activities. If you do suffer from a back problem, however, such activities pose some risk of aggravating it. If you want to continue with one of these sports, you can try it — carefully — after thorough rehabilitation.

It’s also important to note that although weight-bearing exercise is a standard prescription for building bone, exercising to an extreme can have a deleterious effect on your bones and — ultimately — on your back. Studies have shown conclusively that women who exercise so intensively and strenuously that they stop menstruating lose calcium from their bones and thereby heighten their risk for osteoporosis and other spinal problems later in life.

Article from everyday Health –Pain Management Center

What Can I Do for Back Pain Behind the Wheel?

Q: I've tried a lot of the suggestions on this site for back pain, and a lot of them work. I'm still in pain, however, when I drive. I use back support, but it doesn't help. I spend three to four hours driving daily. What else can I do?

A: I'm pleased that our site has been able to provide you with approaches that help relieve your back pain. Driving does present a particular challenge for individuals who suffer from back pain — more than half of people who drive for a living complain of back pain, as do a large percentage of leisure drivers. There are a number of steps that you can take, though, to minimize the chance that your time behind the wheel will aggravate your back.

The first consideration is the car you drive. An automatic transmission will place less stress on your back than a manual one. Additionally, the car should have a seat that allows you to adjust the height and tilt, as well as the distance from the steering wheel. The seat should be wider than your hips and not so long that it applies undue pressure behind your knees. Lumbar support is also very important, and should extend the entire length of your back without creating any pressure points.

Do not attempt to reach over to the passenger seat while you drive, because such movement will put stress on your back. Finally, do not drive for long periods (greater than two hours) without stopping for a break. Try walking a short distance, such as in the parking lot of a rest area. Good luck!

Dr. Richard Liebowitz