Information on Back Pain-Keeping Your Back Straight

Your back is a vital body part. It plays an essential role in every part of daily life. Since the back is so important, you want to keep up-to-date on information about back pain and its treatment.

Begin with this basic information.

Information on Back Pain #1 - What Is Your Back?

Back pain can best be understood when you understand the structure of your back, so let’s build a spine. Your back consists of 30 small bones called vertebrae. These bones are stacked on top of each other, and connected by ligaments, tendons, and muscles. Your stack of connected vertebrae is divided into four regions. From the base of your skull down to your pelvis, these four regions are:

1. Cervical or neck vertebrae – the top 7
2. Thoracic or upper back vertebrae – the next 12
3. Lumbar or lower back vertebrae – 5 more
4. Sacrum and coccyx – 6 fused bones at the spine’s base

Between your vertebrae are round, spongy cartilage pads called disks. Disks act as shock absorbers for your spine. A column-like spinal cord runs through your stack of vertebrae. It, too, is divided into segments similar to nearby vertebrae. Your spinal cord contains nerve roots and nerve rootlets that spread out, sending messages of pain from your back to your brain.

Information on Back Pain #2 – Back Pain’s Causes

Back pain is among the most common complaints. It is also one of the most painful. Since it can be difficult to treat, it is important that you have good information on back pain. Most good information on back pain will agree that when you lift something too heavy, you may cause a sprain, pull, strain, or spasm in one of the muscles or ligaments in your back. That will cause back pain.

Let’s look at more specific information on back pain.

1. Your cervical spine, or upper back, begins at the base of your skull. It is composed of seven vertebrae with eight pairs of cervical nerves. This part of your spine is designed to support your head and give you mobility.

Injury or mild trauma to the cervical spine can cause one of a number of serious, even life-threatening medical emergencies. You might have a spinal cord injury (SCI) or a fracture. Such injury could cause pain, numbness, weakness, and tingling.

2. Your thoracic spine is just below your cervical spine. Your ribs are connected to this part of the spine. Think of it as the back of your chest. Your thoracic spine is designed to be strong and stable, permitting you to stand upright and protecting your vital internal chest organs. Although thoracic, or middle back pain is rather uncommon, it causes significant pain when it does occur.

The most common causes of middle back pain are muscular irritation and joint dysfunction. You may injure a disk, and cause middle back pain, but such injuries are very rare.

3. Your lumbar spine, or lower back region, is most likely to experience pain. This is because your lumbar region supports the weight of your upper body. It takes the most abuse.

Many things can cause injury and pain to your lower back. As with all parts of the spine, muscle strain or spasm may occur when you lift or carry things that are too heavy. Sprains of ligaments occur in similar manner. You may experience joint problems or a "slipped disk."

The most common cause of lumbar or lower back pain, though, is simply using your back muscles for actions you usually do not do. Perhaps you sit at a desk most days, but one weekend, you help friends move furniture. Or you normally teach school, but during the summer, you decide to create a large vegetable garden in your back yard.

A so-called “slipped disk” (herniated disk) occurs when a disk, one of those spongy cartilage pads between your spines vertebrae bulges out and presses on nerves. This often occurs when you twisting while lifting something. You may not know what caused your slipped disk, if it happens. You will know the lower back pain that comes as a result.

Information on Back Pain #3 – Back Pain and Your Physician

Not every back pain will require a visit to your physician. Many back pains can be treated effectively at home with heating pads and ice packs. Over-the-counter (OTC) medications can also give the relief needed. However, there are times when you will want your physician to give information on back pain, and prescribe treatment.

Seek a qualified physician if any of the following is true:
• Your pain is so bad you can’t move around
• Your pain is not less after two weeks
• Your pain was caused by an injury
• You have a fever
• You feel nauseous or are vomiting
• You have a stomachache
• You are weak or sweating
• Your pain goes down the leg below your knee
• You lose control over going to the bathroom
• Your foot, leg, rectal, or groin area is numb

Information on Back Pain #4 – Back Pain Prevention

Your health care provider, whether physician, chiropractor or other, will encourage you to maintain an active, healthy lifestyle as part of back pain prevention. The best information on back pain they can provide you is to avoid injury in the first place. Develop healthy back habits. The following five bad habits can cause back pain. Avoid them.

• Twisting when lifting
• Bad posture
• Lack of exercise and too much weight
• Smoking tobacco
• Ignoring back pain

The more information on back pain you have, the better prepared you will be to deal with it.

Anna Hart. Read Anna's growing number of articles at http://www.backpainreliefblog.com for more information on back pain.

What to Use for Backaches - Short and Long Term Pain Relief Options

By Jen C

Often back pain can come on suddenly with something as simple as a sneeze or bending down to pick up the car keys.

Sometimes it's the result of prolonged strain and neglect of the back and surrounding area.

Short term pain relief

In the short term, anti-inflammatory over-the-counter medication can bring some relief and restore movement. Simple home treatments such as a hot water bottle or ice pack can also help relax the affected area.

Surprisingly, it's been shown recently that lying flat in bed for several days actually slows down the natural healing process. We're now being encouraged to get out of bed when we're able and to sit or stand rather than lie down.

Long term back pain prevention

If you regularly suffer from backaches, you may wish to consider some preventative treatment, including one of:-

Chiropractor or Osteopath - long term poor posture or injuries sustained in falls or car accidents can result in movement within the back. Osteopathic medicine focus on the musculoskeletal system, with many osteopaths specializing in An osteopath will be able treat the damaged parts of your body such as muscles, ligaments, nerves and joints. This is a good option for those who prefer a drug free solution.

Exercises - it’s been shown that certain types of exercise can help to strengthen the muscles around the weak area and prevent further recurrences of muscle strain and pain. In particular, the McKenzie exercises were designed specifically for people suffering regularly from back pain. If you are suffering from acute pain, the exercises can be done every two hours. For preventative purposes, daily exercising will help to strengthen your muscles and improve movement.

Lifting - if you are lifting heavy items, you may be putting unnecessary strain on your back. Learning how to lift properly may help you to avoid further strain.

When to see your doctor

If you are worried or anxious, contact your doctor. Occasionally, back pain can be a symptom of a more serious condition, so it is worth taking medical advice.

Jen has suffered from back problems on and off for twenty years. She has written about her findings about what works and what doesn't in her latest website, End Back Pain.

For further tips and ideas on alternative products to help manage back pain and for strengthening exercises to help prevent further pain, visit End Back Pain UK.

Disclaimer: You should consult a doctor for your back problem. This article does not constitute medical advice, it is for information only.

Alleviate Back Pain with Pilates

Low back pain is one of the most common complaints from males over the age of 20. Many women also experience a number of different acute or chronic injuries to their lower back as well. Despite the multitude of recovery options available, ranging from medication to surgery, there is one method that has continued to prove successful. A prescribed core strengthening routine has relieved the average back pain sufferer of their pain while helping them prevent future injury also.

Strengthening programs designed to increase core muscle strength and endurance have been shown to effectively alleviate back injury and improve posture. In order to make my back pain go away I need to do more back exercises in the gym, right? Not so much. The real key to decreasing the stress put on one's low back is to develop a corset that supports our body. This corset is formed by strengthening what many refer to as the core muscles; mainly the transverse abdominis, multifidus, pelvic floor muscles, and obliques. These muscles help us to breathe properly, and maintain good balance and posture throughout our daily activities.

There are some different theories out there that try to explain the best way to improve core strength. Many different exercises and props have been developed to improve all aspects of one's core. A more recent development has been the inclusion of Pilates into an abdominal strengthening program. Pilates has been shown to successfully alleviate and increasing functional strength. Pilates emphasizes movement through the use of our core muscles, those closest to the spin. Instead of performing more reps, Pilates focuses on performing fewer, more precise movements that require concentration, control, and proper form. Due to its focus on developing the core muscles as well as postural awareness, Pilates is especially successful at alleviating back pain. By integrating the trunk, pelvis, and shoulder girdle Pilates enables you to develop a strong core.

Many physical therapists are successfully introducing some of the Pilates methods into their rehabilitation programs for patients with back pain. The most successful programs thus far have been those who creatively integrate Pilates with props, like the Swiss Ball, resistance bands, or balance disks, and with more traditional techniques. A prop such as the Swiss Ball is ideal for strengthening of muscles like those in the core because they challenge our balance which increases recruitment of the transverse abdominis.

Pilates also emphasizes proper breathing and body awareness in addition to core conditioning. Patients are able to develop their full set of core muscles that gives them functional strength to participate in their daily activities. Those who have given Pilates a try notice a greater ability to focus on their task and increased strength to take part in normal activity while maintaining good posture.

Though many of us suffer from some sort of back pain there is plenty we can do about it. For those of us who do not require surgery, Pilates offers an outstanding way to develop the muscles that support your entire body's posture throughout the day. A Pilates strengthening program is even used as a post-surgery rehabilitation method. No matter your needs when it comes to back pain, contact your local physical therapist and ask if they have been trained in how to alleviate back pain through the use of Pilates.

Robert Tendick is a student preparing himself to earn a Doctor of Physical Therapy degree. His experience as an athlete with various injuries has given him insight into the common aches and pains that trouble many athletes and the need for prevention core strengthening through mat pilates. He has also had the opportunity as a physical therapy aide to help heal a number of Los Angeles physical therapy patients through the use of cutting edge injury rehabilitation techniques.