How to Identify and Relieve Back Pain
Posted by Todd Fries | Filed under Back Pain, FAQ
At one time or another, everyone suffers from some form of back pain. It’s the #1 cause of missed work, and one of every five Americans is suffering from back right now!! According to Timothy Carey, M.D. director of the Sheps Center for Health Services Research at University of North Carolina obesity and stress are the leading cause.
It’s often hard to pin down the exact cause of a person’s back pain-unless you have pain accompanied by a red-flag symptom such as numbness or weakness of the legs or feet, changes in bladder control, fever, or night sweats, or you have a history of cancer. In such cases, health care professionals agree, you should see a doctor ASAP!!
The adult spine consists of 26 bones called vertebrae, divided into three areas-the upper (cervical), the middle (thoracic), and the lower (lumbar). Even if you weren’t born with a musculoskeletal irregularity, such as curvature of the spine (scoliosis), your discs wear out over time: they’re the shock absorbers for your body weight. As you age, your bones become weaker, and you may develop osteoporosis (which can lead to fractures) or osteoarthritis (a breakdown of cartilage that may cause bones to rub together).
So what should you do if you feel low back pain? First ask yourself: is the pain acute or chronic? Acute pain feels like a sudden stab followed by a burning sting, so painful it can immobilize you. People often say it feels like “something snapped.” That snap may be a muscle stretching so far it tears like a frayed rubber band. Acute pain ends in a day to several weeks. Chronic pain may have started as acute but never went away. If pain lasts longer than three months, it’s chronic.
The general rule for acute pain is to ice the injured area for 20-minute intervals to reduce inflammation and swelling, says Marilyn Moffat, D.P.T., Ph.D., professor of physical therapy at New York University. After 72 hours, switch to heat-this soothes muscles and works well on muscle spasms.
After the initial pain passes the next question is: lie still or move? Until recently, doctors advised those with acute back pain to lie in bed until the pain passed. But a 2005 study found that people on bed rest have more pain and a slower recovery than those who stay active. “Muscles lose mass remarkably quickly when you don’t exercise them,” says Moffat. Just when you need those muscles to work harder to hold you up, they will be weaker than ever from lack of use. To aid movement in the early days of pain, she often has patients wear a lumbosacral corset, which supports the lower back.
Part of the frustration in treating low back pain-both for the physician and the sufferer-is that outcomes vary so dramatically from one patient to the next. Although acupuncture might offer relief to one person, it may do nothing for another. Neurologists speculate that this may be due in part to the way pain signals travel up the spine to the brain. It also may be because most people who see a doctor for low back pain actually have several things wrong with their back.
The good news is new research suggests we’re getting closer to discovering what works best. A review in the February 2009 Journal of the American Academy of Orthopaedic Surgeons concluded that physical therapy combined with nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (such as ibuprofen or naproxen) is the most effective treatment for degenerating discs. According to the American Association of Neurological Surgeons, 90 percent of herniated discs can be effectively treated with conservative therapies such as limited bed rest, exercise, and anti-inflammatory medications.
If none of these things help alleviate your back pain you can always try Chiropractic Care, Acupuncture, Injections, or as a last resort Surgery.
So do yourself a favor and stay active and live the healthiest life you can, your back will hopefully return the favor 
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