Understanding Back Pain

According to homemademedicine.com, back pain in one form or another will strike nearly 80% of the population. The numbers for chronic back and neck pain are lower but the damage and suffering far more severe. Modern medicine does offer some good options for pain relief and healing but homeopathy can offer some viable alternatives free of addictive risk or side effects. Methadone, also referred to as Dolophine and Methadose, is a narcotic sometimes prescribed for chronic back pain. Methadone for chronic back pain works on specific centers in the brain. Patients who have been prescribed methadone might not notice any relief for three to five days. What to do? For one, he said, "we've got to put better training in place to help sort out which of these patients falls into the category of more serious problems versus something that's more run of the mill." Madison, Wisconsin - UW Health Family Medicine physician Jacqueline Gerhart writes a column that usually appears weekly on madison.com and in the Wisconsin State Journal. Columns are re-published here with permission. Pain or discomfort in the back is among the most frequent reasons for missing work. In fact, back discomfort is the 2nd most typical reason for check outs to the physician’s workplace, outnumbered just by upper-respiratory infections. Transcutaneuos Electrical Nerve Stimulation TENS.This is administered by battery powerde device that send mild elctrical pulses along nerve fibres to bock pain signals to the brain Periodically walk around your office. Don't sit for more than 2 hrs at a stretchFor lumbar support a pillow or a rolled towel should be placed at the while sitting. When you are lifting heavy objects, always lift at the knee. Bend your knees every time you reach down. If you bend at your waist, your chances of hurting your back are much higher. If you need to lift heavy objects often, you should wear a back brace to protect your back even further. Pain from sciatica is felt due to the damage in the tissues of the sciatic nerve. In most cases the injury is impermanent; so it gets better with in a few weeks and pain relief can easily be treated with non-surgical methods like exercise or traction. However, there are some instances where sciatica becomes so severe that it requires immediate medical attention. Below are the following signs that indicate the need for surgery. People from all over the world suffer from troublesome pains, and opt for strong painkillers in such cases. In the long run, such medicines are more than just being harmful, and so should be avoided. Many people suffer with sciatic nerve pain in the lower back and legs. A sarcoma tumor on the sciatic nerve can be one cause of this type of pain. Surgery is usually required to remove this tumor. Epidural steroidal injections are a useful but temporary treatment for chronic back pain. Besides offering pain relief, they also are often helpful in increasing the efficacy of other back therapies since they can help increase mobility in the spinal area. Before getting surgery, you may want to think about a back brace for solving your herniated disc problems. Back braces are effective forms of treatment that are commonly used by people today. Sitting badly can curve your spine into an unnatural 'C' shape when it should be a natural 'S' shape. (Ref 1) Most of us spend all day at work and then all evening in front of the TV sitting badly. This can lead to serious back problems. One way you can prevent back pain is to use a chair with good back support and there are a number of them to choose from. Most back pain goes away on its own, though it may take awhile. Taking over-the-counter pain relievers and resting can help. However, staying in bed for more than 1 or 2 days can make it worse. You are moving a heavy piece of furniture and you get a pain so bad that you think you've broken your back. No, in reality it is most like a strain, spasm or sprain. This is probably the most common cause of back pain. Fortunately this kind of pain will generally disappear within two to six weeks. This pain resides in the muscles. A misaligned pelvis strains muscles, ligaments, and tendons in the lower back and near the spine, often resulting in spasms, or occasional sciatica when nerves in the lower back are pinched by tightened back muscles pulling against and compressing the spine. The feet are the body's postural foundation. Asymmetries in the feet block forward progression as you walk. The two most common locations of blockage are at the ankle and the big toe. If the heel chord (Achilles tendon) is too tight or if the great toe is unable to flex upward your body will not rock forward very efficiently. This blockage is analogous to hitting a pool ball without drawing back on the cue. The use of foot orthotics (custom arch supports) to reduce excessive forces on the lumbar spine is often overlooked by health care professionals. However, recent studies are very encouraging.