The second largest healing profession in the world, chiropractic healing is a form of holistic health care that works under the premise that the body has an inherent internal balance between structure and function. When this balance is toppled, which could be due to several reasons, ‘dis-ease’ sets in. According to this method of healing, the root of most diseases can be found in the interrelationships between the spinal column and the nervous system (the Master System of the body). When the spinal vertebrae are misaligned, the spinal nerves become irritated and this alters many of the main functions of the body. Chiropractic doctors attempt to heal by restoring this innate equilibrium. To do this, they first identify the source of the problem.

Chiropractic doctors follow a standard routine in order to make their diagnosis. They depend heavily on patient histories and conduct in-depth physical, orthopedic and neurological examinations. Often, x-rays are used to rule out fractures and locate any misalignments in the spine. Many chiropractic doctors also examine the posture of the patient and their lifestyle to evaluate the correct position of the spine and its functioning.

To treat patients, chiropractic doctors mainly depend on manual adjustments of the spinal column. They make use of massage, water, acupuncture, electric and ultrasound waves, heat and cold to stimulate the joints, nerves and muscles. Sometimes doctors also employ supports like braces, tapes and straps to manually align the spine.

Chiropractic doctors are particularly helpful in cases of ailments and conditions related to joints and muscle. Scoliosis, acute back pain, arthritis, back and neck pain, sciatica and whiplash are effectively treated by chiropractic doctors. In fact, chiropractic healing has been very effective in a number of cases where surgery has been recommended for patients who were subjected to high degree of pain and fatigue due to their health conditions. Chiropractors are also extremely beneficial in cases of tension related headaches.

Medical doctors treat a problem in its exclusivity. For them, the affected part is the whole; they do not see the part in relation to the entire body. Chiropractic doctors consider the entire body system before they start the healing process. Unlike modern medicine where symptoms are treated and the cessation of the symptom is the end of the disease, chiropractors attempt to bring about permanent healing. For this, they often recommend diet and lifestyle changes. Regular exercises, proper food and proper posture are important facets of healing. Instead of prescription drugs and surgery, chiropractic doctors make use of stress management tools and proper lifestyle.

Chiropractic doctors and their methods of holistic healing are becoming more and more popular for the treatment of musculoskeletal problems because of its emphasis on the patient’s overall health. These doctors provide excellent non-invasive treatment procedures and recognize the importance exercise, diet, health, environment and heredity. In rare cases, chiropractic doctors even recommend the case to other doctors or undertake therapy in conjunction with other therapeutic measures.

Adolph Paul

Technorati Tags: Ailments, Back And Neck Pain, Chiropractic Doctors, Correct Position, Equilibrium, Health Conditions, Internal Balance, Interrelationships, Manual Adjustments, Neurological Examinations, Patient Histories, sciatica, Scoliosis, Spinal Column, Spinal Nerves, Spinal Vertebrae, Structure And Function, Ultrasound Waves, whiplash, X Rays

 After falling through too many point-to-point fences when I was younger, I had to give up horse-riding because of sciatica and take up golf instead. I’m not sure whether it has anything to do with golf, I think maybe it’s the geological age I’ve spent pecking at office computers, but I now suffer from a different kind of back-pain, not the shooting, nervy kind, more the seized-up sort, particularly behind my shoulder-blades. I’ve tried chiro-this and acu-that, but nobody in the UK has been able

Today my husband and I played a leisurely and sunny round at one of Kuala Lumpur’s golf courses before returning to our hotel, the Maya. I unreservedly recommend this place. The moment you enter the “lobby”, your stress levels drop. Not just because the air-con generates a summer breeze instead of the Siberian chill that too many other hotels embrace, but because of the laid-back ambience. Open-plan and intimate, the Maya charms the eye with bewitching flourishes like the corkscrew staircase, reflecting ponds and a super-comfy-sofa-paved Martini bar that my grandson described as “well chilled-out”.

The Maya appears determined to corner the boutique, Bohemian end of the five-star market. Oh to move in.

My husband and I felt so virtuous in having forgone the use of a buggy that we felt justified in rewarding ourselves with some additional calories in the hotel’s restaurant, which has an unusually good menu for the health-conscious. My husband really wanted a special dispensation from his necessarily strict dietary regime in order to try the sticky toffee pudding, of which he is particularly fond and of which he used to consume fair quantities. He kept looking at me with pleading-puppy eyes, whilst extolling the virtues of his favourite dessert and bemoaning the fact that his diet doesn’t allow it more than once a week. Honestly, you should have seen him, how could I not give in, especially after I had won at golf? After teasing him for a bit I decided to abandon my diet police job for once and let him order his favourite dessert. Then I helped him to keep to his diet by eating half of the pudding, which was divine.

We enjoyed a lazy dip in the pool and then I read my book whilst my husband and son played games in the pool with my grandchildren. When the children went off for their nap and my husband fell asleep on his lounger I decided to escape from the snoring (I feel 8 hours a day of that is quite sufficient) by checking out the hotel spa to see if it had anything that could help my back.

My pampering session unfolded at the spa that sets out its stall through its name: “Anggun”, the Malay for “elegance”. Starting out in the shower, I gingerly pointed the head of the hose at my feet and, twisting a lever, got a bit of a shock by accidentally triggering a thunderously hair-parting blast from the fixed showerhead above.

The pummelling was a nice change compared with the feeble lukewarm dribble delivered by other hotel showers. My subsequent 10-minute steam bath was pleasant but made me puff, maybe unsurprisingly as I am a retirement refugee from a country where the prevalent vapour is freezing fog.

A little while later, my masseuse Atiqah heated up some stones in a rice cooker and then strategically applied them to my back. No, this was not some bizarre form of torture worthy of the Aztecs but “hot stone massage”.

According to my later “research” (ie googling), the heat from the stones works wonders, unwinding muscles, boosting blood flow to the zones under attention and releasing toxins, while the client experiences a sensation of calm.

If a stone, which should be made of river-smoothed, iron-rich, heat-retaining basalt, burns a bit, relax. “Fortunately, the human body has an excellent temperature gauge and a client in most cases will and should immediately respond in a negative way to an excessively hot stone, which tells the therapist to remove the stone,” my Google guide says.

Aside from an initial wince-triggering sting, my hot stone session was torment-free. Nonetheless, I did not feel all that wowed.

Atiqah said that a deep tissue massage would do more good. Thankfully the stones, which are sleek, black and about the size of a cell phone battery, merely represented components of the warm-up routine, which then gave way to hard thumb action, triggering waves of shooting, soothing pain.

As her thumbs traced arcs and touched nerves, I was glad that Atiqah could not see my face distort – the slightly comical contortions, which I could see reflected in the highly polished floorboards, were reserved for my viewing only. I suppressed the urge to say “ouch”, since the agony must be beneficial. Also, I have suffered more under the hands of certain UK practitioner who, after yanking your fingers from their sockets, kneel on your spine and attempt to drag your feet up over your shoulders in some sort of wrestling/yoga crossover.

Atiqah kept rubbing my muscles, which had more knots than my stomach before a public speaking bout, and smeared almond oil into the skin. During the process, something strange happened. No, my chakras did not start to hum. Nor was I overcome by a wave of euphoria.

Instead, a conversation between Atiqah and me kicked in. Amazing. Until now, when beached on a lounger, I have rarely mustered more than a grunt.

Dialogue is hard because, for a start, you are usually facing the floor and do not know the therapist’s first language. For another, it is hard to sustain a stream of words unbroken by “oohs” and “aahs” of pain or relief.

According to Atiqah, Malaysians fail to take care of their bodies at all, which is why so many keel over at 50. I can believe it. Whenever I walk into a KL café and ask for a low-fat version of something, I get an even more bewildered look than when I tell a shopkeeper I need no plastic bag. The hassle is almost enough to make you go with the flow, forget your figure and drain a plastic vat of the local blue-coral yogurt bubble tea.

At Anggun, the tea served is that byword for energy, ginger freshly made from the root, rather than in a sachet, and dispensed in a cup the size of a shot glass. With its peppery aftertaste still on my lips, I hopped in the lift.

Atiqah’s parting advice was to drink lots of water to release trapped toxins. I already knew I should do this, in fact it must be the only piece of advice that all the health and diet experts agree on. It is so annoying and confusing that they disagree on absolutely everything else. Diet is the third subject I know of, along with politics and religion, where there is a complete lack of consensus. I can understand why people might not be able to agree on religion due to the tricky issue of the afterlife, as nobody expressing an opinion is currently dead, so knows for sure the answer. With politics, I can see that people will never agree, as the haves and the have-not-as-muchs will always have different ideas on wealth division. But diet? Surely our scientists could figure out the definitive answers to what is good for us and what is not? Maybe the best minds in the scientific community find this subject uninteresting.

Postscript. My back pain has finally been fixed. We stayed at the Maya for four more days and I went back every day for a massage. Each time Atiqah found the knots in my back and applied herself vigorously and painfully to them. After five sessions they were virtually gone. What took me ages to figure out was why. Atiqah is a very good masseuse, but I’d had lots of good massages before, which had not cured the problem. I think the reason she was able to fix my back was that I had five sessions on five consecutive days. My muscle knots weren’t given long enough between sessions to seize up again, so each massage session could build on the progress made in the prior session, rather than starting from scratch. So my advice to anyone with a problem with muscular knots is to find a good masseuse, tell her that you can put up with pain, then go back four times on the following four days. It’s surely got to be worth a try, hasn’t it?

Whilst in Thailand, why not visit one of the country’s currently best three beach destinations:

Koh Lao Liang: http://www.andamanadventures.com/kohlaoliang.shtml

Ao Nang: http://www.andamanadventures.com/ao_nang.shtml

Railay/Tonsai: http://www.andamanadventures.com/railay-tonsai.shtml

?

Eileen Roberts

Technorati Tags: Bohemian, Comfy Sofa, Corkscrew, Dietary Regime, Dispensation, Flourishes, Geological Age, Kuala Lumpur, Laid Back, Martini Bar, Office Computers, Puppy Eyes, sciatica, Shoulder Blades, Staircase, Star Market, Sticky Toffee Pudding, Stress Levels, Summer Breeze, Virtues

There can be many reasons for that pain in your back. All you need to do is to get it diagnosed and get a good treatment done. And if you are diagnosed with the problem of Radiculopathy, then you need an immediate medical attention. Because if not taken care of at the initial stages, your back pain can aggravate, putting you in grave problems.

Radiculopathy is a condition, which is a result of the pressure that is being originated from the herniated disk. There can be another reason to it. The pressure exerted by the degenerative changes in the spine can also lead to back pain. These changes lead to inflammation and irritation in the roots of the nerves. {mosgoogle right} This disorder is accompanied with a specific pattern of pain, which is very intense. You can also feel numbness and weakness in the muscles of your arms and legs.

The nerves that are usually affected by this disorder are the sensory nerve. Those muscles that have a direct contact with the affected sensory nerve roots tend to get weak. Besides this, the number of roots that get affected by this disorder also varies. In some cases the affected nerve cells can be few, while in other cases, the disorder can affect both sides of the body.

There are two forms of Radiculopathy. One is Lumbar Radiculopathy and the other is Cervical Radiculopathy. If you are suffering from lumbar radiculopathy, the most common symptoms observed will be of sciatica. In case of cervical radiculopathy, the pain will be intense, which will radiate from your neck to your arms. Treatment to both the forms of radiculopathy is available and effective.

For treating cervical radiculopathy, a combination of drugs that contain cortisteroids, which are a category of powerful anti-inflammatory drugs and the non-steroidal pain-killers is administered to the patient. There are two ways of doing this. One is through an oral intake of the drug and the other is with the help of epidural injections. However, prescription of the drug through the means of an injection is an effective way as the drug is administered directly to the affected area.

Besides this, you can also inculcate the use of various physical therapies to relieve yourself from the pain caused by radiculpathy. The activities that generally form a part of a physical therapy session for radiculopathy are gentle cervical traction coupled with various exercises. All these exercises work in the direction of reducing your back pain and giving you instant relief. In the severest and rarest-of the-rare cases, you might need a surgery to get rid of the pain.

Ashish Jain
http://www.articlesbase.com/advice-articles/radiculopathy-a-quick-overview-122862.html

Technorati Tags: Anti Inflammatory Drugs, Arms And Legs, Back Pain, Cervical Radiculopathy, Cortisteroids, Degenerative Changes, Direct Contact, Grave Problems, Initial Stages, Lumbar Radiculopathy, Medical Attention, Nerve Cells, Nerve Roots, Nerves, Numbness, Oral Intake, Pain Killers, sciatica, Sensory Nerve, THR

If you ever experience an afternoon slump, there is an easy way to revive your energy.

On each step in the series remember to:

* Breathe deeply and slowly.

* Stretch to the point of feeling a “release,” but not to the point of feeling pain.

* Hold each stretch for 10-30 seconds, or more if it feels good.

* Go slow and be gentle. Over time you’ll actually feel greater benefits every day.

Office Stretching Series

1. Touch the Sky. Reach your arms up to the sky and as far back as you can safely go. You can try grasping like you’re trying to reach the stars.

2. Side Stretch. While standing reach your one arm over head and to the opposite side. You can keep the other hand on your hip or in the air.

3. Touch Your Toes. Take off your shoes if you can. Wiggle your toes. Now bend at the hip and reach for your toes. Bending your knees is OK.

4. Shoulder Opener. Lean your palms against the wall above your head and bending at the hip to stretch out your shoulders and back.

5. Twirl ‘Em. Make circles with your wrists and ankles. Rotate in both directions. Also with each hand alternate making fists and opening your hand wide. Do this back and forth a few times. If you work at a keyboard, you’ll be love how this feels!

6. Loosen Your Neck. Go slow and gentle with neck stretching. Slowly stretch forward and back, side to side, round in circles, and twist to look over each shoulder. Remember slow and gentle. Only do what feels good.

7. Arm Stretch. Straighten one arm out in front of you. Now with the other arm pull the straight arm toward your opposite shoulder. Go slowly. If you use a computer mouse a lot during the day, this should feel really good. Keep your hands open wide to make this even better.

8. Arm Circles. While standing rotate each arm around in big circles both forward and backward. Do one arm at a time. Do this slowly.

9. Seated Twist. First sit up straight. Twist in your chair keeping your hips stationary. Twist all the way from lower back all the way up to your head looking over your shoulder.

10. Quad Stretch and Balance. Stand on one leg and stretch out your quadricep muscle by bending your knee and pulling your foot to your buttocks. If you’d like to advance this a bit, bend at the hip to touch your toes while doing this.

11. Hip Opener. Sitting in your chair cross one leg over the other so that ankle rests just above the knee. While doing this lean forward to feel a nice stretch in your hip and buttocks. Over time this one exercise can help with lower back problems and sciatica. It’s pretty amazing. Repeat with the other leg.

12. Seated Back Bend. Sitting in your chair you can do this a few different ways. Each of these will give a nice stretch to your stomach and chest muscles:

* Sitting on the edge of your chair with arms in the air, simply reach up and back.

* Sitting on the edge, clasp your hands behind your back with arms pointing down. Roll your shoulders in towards each other in the back and lean your head back.

* If you have a lean back chair, lift your arms in the air and lean back for a nice stretch.

Janine Blair

Technorati Tags: Afternoon Slump, Ankles, Arm Circles, Computer Mouse, Fists, Hips, Keyboard, Knees, Love, Palms, Series 1, Shoes, Shoulders, Side Stretch, Straight Arm, stretching, Toes, Touch The Sky, Twirl

If you ever experience an afternoon slump, there is an easy way to revive your energy.

On each step in the series remember to:

* Breathe deeply and slowly.

* Stretch to the point of feeling a “release,” but not to the point of feeling pain.

* Hold each stretch for 10-30 seconds, or more if it feels good.

* Go slow and be gentle. Over time you’ll actually feel greater benefits every day.

Office Stretching Series

1. Touch the Sky. Reach your arms up to the sky and as far back as you can safely go. You can try grasping like you’re trying to reach the stars.

2. Side Stretch. While standing reach your one arm over head and to the opposite side. You can keep the other hand on your hip or in the air.

3. Touch Your Toes. Take off your shoes if you can. Wiggle your toes. Now bend at the hip and reach for your toes. Bending your knees is OK.

4. Shoulder Opener. Lean your palms against the wall above your head and bending at the hip to stretch out your shoulders and back.

5. Twirl ‘Em. Make circles with your wrists and ankles. Rotate in both directions. Also with each hand alternate making fists and opening your hand wide. Do this back and forth a few times. If you work at a keyboard, you’ll be love how this feels!

6. Loosen Your Neck. Go slow and gentle with neck stretching. Slowly stretch forward and back, side to side, round in circles, and twist to look over each shoulder. Remember slow and gentle. Only do what feels good.

7. Arm Stretch. Straighten one arm out in front of you. Now with the other arm pull the straight arm toward your opposite shoulder. Go slowly. If you use a computer mouse a lot during the day, this should feel really good. Keep your hands open wide to make this even better.

8. Arm Circles. While standing rotate each arm around in big circles both forward and backward. Do one arm at a time. Do this slowly.

9. Seated Twist. First sit up straight. Twist in your chair keeping your hips stationary. Twist all the way from lower back all the way up to your head looking over your shoulder.

10. Quad Stretch and Balance. Stand on one leg and stretch out your quadricep muscle by bending your knee and pulling your foot to your buttocks. If you’d like to advance this a bit, bend at the hip to touch your toes while doing this.

11. Hip Opener. Sitting in your chair cross one leg over the other so that ankle rests just above the knee. While doing this lean forward to feel a nice stretch in your hip and buttocks. Over time this one exercise can help with lower back problems and sciatica. It’s pretty amazing. Repeat with the other leg.

12. Seated Back Bend. Sitting in your chair you can do this a few different ways. Each of these will give a nice stretch to your stomach and chest muscles:

* Sitting on the edge of your chair with arms in the air, simply reach up and back.

* Sitting on the edge, clasp your hands behind your back with arms pointing down. Roll your shoulders in towards each other in the back and lean your head back.

* If you have a lean back chair, lift your arms in the air and lean back for a nice stretch.

Janine Blair

Technorati Tags: Afternoon Slump, Ankles, Arm Circles, Computer Mouse, Fists, Hips, Keyboard, Knees, Love, Palms, Series 1, Shoes, Shoulders, Side Stretch, Straight Arm, stretching, Toes, Touch The Sky, Twirl

If you ever experience an afternoon slump, there is an easy way to revive your energy.

On each step in the series remember to:

* Breathe deeply and slowly.

* Stretch to the point of feeling a “release,” but not to the point of feeling pain.

* Hold each stretch for 10-30 seconds, or more if it feels good.

* Go slow and be gentle. Over time you’ll actually feel greater benefits every day.

Office Stretching Series

1. Touch the Sky. Reach your arms up to the sky and as far back as you can safely go. You can try grasping like you’re trying to reach the stars.

2. Side Stretch. While standing reach your one arm over head and to the opposite side. You can keep the other hand on your hip or in the air.

3. Touch Your Toes. Take off your shoes if you can. Wiggle your toes. Now bend at the hip and reach for your toes. Bending your knees is OK.

4. Shoulder Opener. Lean your palms against the wall above your head and bending at the hip to stretch out your shoulders and back.

5. Twirl ‘Em. Make circles with your wrists and ankles. Rotate in both directions. Also with each hand alternate making fists and opening your hand wide. Do this back and forth a few times. If you work at a keyboard, you’ll be love how this feels!

6. Loosen Your Neck. Go slow and gentle with neck stretching. Slowly stretch forward and back, side to side, round in circles, and twist to look over each shoulder. Remember slow and gentle. Only do what feels good.

7. Arm Stretch. Straighten one arm out in front of you. Now with the other arm pull the straight arm toward your opposite shoulder. Go slowly. If you use a computer mouse a lot during the day, this should feel really good. Keep your hands open wide to make this even better.

8. Arm Circles. While standing rotate each arm around in big circles both forward and backward. Do one arm at a time. Do this slowly.

9. Seated Twist. First sit up straight. Twist in your chair keeping your hips stationary. Twist all the way from lower back all the way up to your head looking over your shoulder.

10. Quad Stretch and Balance. Stand on one leg and stretch out your quadricep muscle by bending your knee and pulling your foot to your buttocks. If you’d like to advance this a bit, bend at the hip to touch your toes while doing this.

11. Hip Opener. Sitting in your chair cross one leg over the other so that ankle rests just above the knee. While doing this lean forward to feel a nice stretch in your hip and buttocks. Over time this one exercise can help with lower back problems and sciatica. It’s pretty amazing. Repeat with the other leg.

12. Seated Back Bend. Sitting in your chair you can do this a few different ways. Each of these will give a nice stretch to your stomach and chest muscles:

* Sitting on the edge of your chair with arms in the air, simply reach up and back.

* Sitting on the edge, clasp your hands behind your back with arms pointing down. Roll your shoulders in towards each other in the back and lean your head back.

* If you have a lean back chair, lift your arms in the air and lean back for a nice stretch.

Janine Blair

Technorati Tags: Afternoon Slump, Ankles, Arm Circles, Computer Mouse, Fists, Hips, Keyboard, Knees, Love, Palms, Series 1, Shoes, Shoulders, Side Stretch, Straight Arm, stretching, Toes, Touch The Sky, Twirl

Posture – Slouching is when you drop your shoulder forward and your head downward. The tendency is for your back to work extra just to maintain your balance. As a result, it puts pressure on your vertebrae, which will likely cause your back to ache. Stop slouching and start to stand and seat straight. This will not only make your look good, it will also make you feel good.

Massage Therapy – Massage helps relieve back pain, shin splints, frozen shoulder, carpal tunnel type symptoms, neck stiffness, sciatica, bursitis, headaches, tennis elbow, and low back stiffness by treating trigger points. Trigger points are accretions of waste products in the region of a nerve receptor which manifest themselves in the forms of dull ache, hot or cold, harp pain, pins and needles, and tingling among others.

Exercise – Your bones should carry your weight. But if your weight exceeds the carrying capacity, then you should be feeling pain right now. There are certain exercises that strengthen the bones. Meanwhile, loosing weight is another way to relieve the stress on your bone. People who are either obese or overweight and experiencing pain might not realize that the main contributor to the pain they feel is their weight.

Balneotherapy – “balneo” (from balneum) is a Latin word meaning bath. Balneotherapy is a kind of hydrotherapy that involves bathing in warm water or mineral water. Researches found that balneotherapy possesses significant beneficial effects for people experiencing body pain. Balneotherapy meanwhile should not be applied to people with heart condition unless supervised with primary care provider.

Sleeping position – the best way to sleep is on your side with your knees bend with a pillow between your legs. For pregnant women who experience back pain, sleeping on the side would be the best remedy for it. Place a pillow under your abdomen to support its weight.

Vitamin D – pain can be a manifestation of Vitamin D deficiency. Vitamin D can be found in fortified milk and cereals, soya milk, margarine, fish, and sunlight.

Hot and cold – back pain can be alleviated by applying cold pack at their back. Other people find heat to be a source of relief. A combination of either hot or cold and massage would also work for other people. Trying out any of these would not do you harm so feel free to explore the possibilities of finding relief to either of them.

Rest – at the office, an all day’s work would mean seating for long hours. This is okay if you are maintaining a good posture all throughout the day. However, the temptation to slouch is great that you completely forget you are slouching. After that, you complain about the pain at your back. Surprisingly, a few minutes of rest is all you need help remove the pain.

John Furnem
http://www.articlesbase.com/medicine-articles/natural-solutions-and-remedies-for-pain-relief-85337.html

Technorati Tags: Back Stiffness, Beneficial Effects, Bursitis, Carrying Capacity, Dull Ache, Heart Condition, Latin Word, Massage Therapy, Natural Solutions, Neck Stiffness, Nerve Receptor, Pins And Needles, Points Trigger, sciatica, Shin Splints, Tennis Elbow, Therapy Massage, Trigger Points, Vertebrae, Vitamin D Deficiency

During my 17 years practicing medicine, patients and friends constantly ask me:

“What is the most likely cause of my back pain?”

I’ve written this simple guide for people who have the same question in mind.

The commonest type of back pain is caused by tears or strains to ligaments, tendons or muscles around the lower spinal cord. The underlying factors are straining, poor posture, incorrect lifting and inactivity. The pain usually appears 36-48 hours after the strain or can be gradual in onset. The symptoms can be mild to moderate depending on the level of injury.

Herniation of a vertebral disc may be associated with back pain and also sciatica…shooting pain down the back of one leg. It is most often seen in people in their 30′s and 40′s but can also occur in the elderly. The condition is caused by underlying disc degeneration. This can lead to a gradual rupturing of the disc and Herniation of the disc contents. This process can be exacerbated by physical straining or exercise. The sciatica occurs when the disc contents press on the neighboring spinal nerve. The pain, which can be very severe, may be associated with numbness or tingling in the area supplied by that nerve (dermatome).

Facet Joint Arthropathy can result from arthritic changes, degeneration or trauma to the facet joints of the vertebral bodies of the spine. These joints are normally covered with cartilage and lined by synovial membranes. Arthritis leads to wear and tear of the cartilage and inflammation of the membranes. This leads to grating movements between the two facet joints. This type of back pain is worsened by torsion or elongation of the spine. The pain is normally well localized and may spread to the buttocks.

Narrowing of the spinal canal (Spinal Stenosis) is more commonly seen in the elderly. It is secondary to vertebral degeneration. It may also occur with infection, trauma, tumors and arthritis of the spine and with bony spurs and disk herniation. It can progress to severe spinal cord injury. It is associated with back pain as well as pain, numbness and weakness of the buttocks.

Radiculopathy (‘a pinched nerve’) is associated with back pain and pain, numbness, weakness and tingling of the legs. It occurs when inflammation of a spinal nerve is caused by pressure or friction. The underlying factors can be tumors, bony spurs, disc herniation, and fractures of the vertebrae. The presence of muscle weakness in the legs as well as pain in the back… indicates severe symptoms. In such cases you should seek a doctor’s advice immediately.

Tumors of the spine, whether they originate in the spine or spread from distant organs, can cause terrible back pain through pressure on the nerves and spine. Chronic persistent pain despite treatment is suggestive although not diagnostic of a spinal tumor. Be suspicious when such pain is associated with generalized signs of cancer such as weight loss, loss of appetite and tiredness.

Infection of the spinal cord or surrounding tissues causes pressure on the spine and can result in severe back pain and loss of function of the affected spinal nerves. Examples include spinal meningitis and osteomyelitis.

Pathology of the vertebrae of the spine can cause pressure on the spinal nerves, inflammatory conditions and degeneration. Examples include osteoarthritis, osteoporosis and ankylosing spondylitis. Ankylosing spondylitis is characterized by pain in the back and stiffness. This stiffness is more pronounced in the morning as is not helped by rest. There may also be pain in the shoulders, neck and mid-spine. Osteoporosis ( low bone mass) leads to fractures. Fractures cause sudden severe back pain localized to the area of the fracture. Osteoarthritis, the wear and tear of joints with age, leads to chronic back pain which tends to be poorly localized. It is normally associated with stiffness and pain which is not eased by rest.

anonymous

Technorati Tags: Arthritis Of The Spine, Bony Spurs, Cartilage, Disc Contents, Disc Degeneration, Disc Herniation, disk herniation, Facet Joint Arthropathy, Facet Joints, Grating, Insider Secrets, Numbness, Poor Posture, Practicing Medicine, sciatica pain, Spinal Canal, Spinal Nerve, Spinal Stenosis, Vertebral Bodies, Wear And Tear

Is your sciatica pain common to herniated disc? If so, how do you get pain relief now?

There certainly are a lot of different things that can go wrong with our backs. One of the worst problems that we can have, however, is if we have a herniated disc, especially if it is irritating the sciatic nerve. A herniated disc occurs whenever the padding that exists between the individual vertebrae begins to break down and eventually ruptures or protrudes. This can cause enough pain on its own but there are times whenever the bulging material will press against the sciatic nerve, either pinching it or irritating it in some way or another. This can cause a lot of suffering for the individual that has these kinds of problems.

You might be interested to know that there is some controversy over exactly what is going wrong in this particular case. Some doctors will refer to it as a ruptured disc while others may refer to it as a torn disc or perhaps even disc disease. Regardless of what they are calling it, however, you are probably interested in what can be done in order to alleviate some of the symptoms that you are experiencing. Although this will have a lot to do with the different diagnosis that you get, there are some things that can be done in order to take some of the pressure off of the sciatic nerve.

The sciatic nerve is the largest nerve that exists in the body. Starting in the lower back, it runs through the area of the buttox and then down into the legs. Since it is such a large nerve and covers a lot of ground inside of your body, there are a lot of opportunities for things to go wrong with it. Typically, the pain will occur because of problems that are experienced in the lower back. If this nerve is pinched or irritated in some way, perhaps through a herniated disc, the pain may be localized or it may even travel down into your legs. In order for you to get rid of the pain that you are experiencing, you need to remove the pressure from the sciatic nerve.

One thing that you may be told to do is to use hot and cold treatments on this area of your back. This is a very common thing whenever it comes to herniated discs and they can actually help to ease some of the pain by reducing swelling. In the case of sciatica pain and a herniated disc, however, more may be needed in order for you to totally overcome the problem.

There are several types of physical therapy that you may have to go through in order to overcome the pain. Typically, this is accomplished through stretching and at times strengthening exercises that are done in the presence of a qualified physical therapist. There are also some specific exercises that you may be able to do at home in order to help speed along your recovery process.

Sciatica pain is something you won’t want to live with for an extended length of time. Effective treatment is available now that will ease your sciatica pain sooner than you might think.

Verona Raymond

Technorati Tags: Break, Buttox, Controversy, Diagnosis, Different Things, Disc Disease, Doctors, Herniated Disc, Legs, Lot, Padding, Pain Relief, Ruptured Disc, Sciatic Nerve, sciatica pain, Torn Disc, Vertebrae

Is your sciatica pain common to herniated disc? If so, how do you get pain relief now?

There certainly are a lot of different things that can go wrong with our backs. One of the worst problems that we can have, however, is if we have a herniated disc, especially if it is irritating the sciatic nerve. A herniated disc occurs whenever the padding that exists between the individual vertebrae begins to break down and eventually ruptures or protrudes. This can cause enough pain on its own but there are times whenever the bulging material will press against the sciatic nerve, either pinching it or irritating it in some way or another. This can cause a lot of suffering for the individual that has these kinds of problems.

You might be interested to know that there is some controversy over exactly what is going wrong in this particular case. Some doctors will refer to it as a ruptured disc while others may refer to it as a torn disc or perhaps even disc disease. Regardless of what they are calling it, however, you are probably interested in what can be done in order to alleviate some of the symptoms that you are experiencing. Although this will have a lot to do with the different diagnosis that you get, there are some things that can be done in order to take some of the pressure off of the sciatic nerve.

The sciatic nerve is the largest nerve that exists in the body. Starting in the lower back, it runs through the area of the buttox and then down into the legs. Since it is such a large nerve and covers a lot of ground inside of your body, there are a lot of opportunities for things to go wrong with it. Typically, the pain will occur because of problems that are experienced in the lower back. If this nerve is pinched or irritated in some way, perhaps through a herniated disc, the pain may be localized or it may even travel down into your legs. In order for you to get rid of the pain that you are experiencing, you need to remove the pressure from the sciatic nerve.

One thing that you may be told to do is to use hot and cold treatments on this area of your back. This is a very common thing whenever it comes to herniated discs and they can actually help to ease some of the pain by reducing swelling. In the case of sciatica pain and a herniated disc, however, more may be needed in order for you to totally overcome the problem.

There are several types of physical therapy that you may have to go through in order to overcome the pain. Typically, this is accomplished through stretching and at times strengthening exercises that are done in the presence of a qualified physical therapist. There are also some specific exercises that you may be able to do at home in order to help speed along your recovery process.

Sciatica pain is something you won’t want to live with for an extended length of time. Effective treatment is available now that will ease your sciatica pain sooner than you might think.

Verona Raymond

Technorati Tags: Break, Buttox, Controversy, Diagnosis, Different Things, Disc Disease, Doctors, Herniated Disc, Legs, Lot, Padding, Pain Relief, Ruptured Disc, Sciatic Nerve, sciatica pain, Torn Disc, Vertebrae