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The ageing population in America is usually more susceptible to back pain and many approaches have been developed to treat the backaches. However, to treat backache, the first step is to know what causes back pain. There are several causes including various physical and emotional factors that can give arise to back problems. Back pain, if left untreated, can lead to a debilitating degree of physical discomfort.

Causes

Among numerous reasons for backache, some of the most common causes of backache are:

1. Strenuous physical exercises such as weight lifting
2. Wrong posture while sitting or standing
3. Sitting for prolonged hours in the same position
4. Stomach disorder
5. Pregnancy – Every pregnant woman goes through the backache suffering at some or the other point of time during the pregnancy period. This is especially so during the last few months of pregnancy.
6. Use of high heels – This causes strain in the back muscles, leading to severe pain
7. Open spine surgery can also give rise to FBSS (failed back spine surgery), which can lead to chronic ache in the back, arms or legs. Other causes include, spondylosis, herniated disc, sciatica, and spinal stenosis.

Types Have Back Pain Treatment

From medication to exercises, there are many types of treatment available for pain in the back. Majority of the Americans suffer from chronic backache because of which they remain absent from work for longer periods. This has also resulted in the advent of a large number of backache therapies. There are both long-period therapies and short-period therapies. For immediate relief, the latter is usually preferred. However, for eradicating backache problems from your life, one needs to follow long-term therapies. Whatever type of treatment you choose, you first need to know what causes back pain to you and eliminate or minimize that cause.

You can find relief from pain in the back with the help of physical exercises, yoga and acupuncture therapies. However, if the problem becomes unbearable, the only alternative would be to consult a doctor or chiropractor.

Apart from these, there are various other therapies and home treatments to minimize the pain. These include medications, exercises, physical therapy or electrical stimulation and surgeries. Surgeries involve spinal surgical procedures, which are also referred to as “open procedures.” These involve a longer recuperative time, larger incisions etc. Endoscopic surgical techniques make use of a larger view of the surgical passageway.

The Bonati procedure requires special mention here. In this procedure, the patient is able to communicate with the surgeons throughout the surgical operation. This is possible by the use of lower anesthesia and endoscopic surgery.

Therapy Through Yoga,

Yoga helps to relieve stress from our lower back, spine, and muscles along the spine and neck. It encourages a positive view of life and helps us change the way we look i.e. our perception or the way we look at things. This goes a long way in easing our tension and helps through a series of exercises, meant to ease the muscle pain in our joints and back.

By: Asheesh Mani

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If you’ve been a sufferer of chronic lower back pain for any amount of time chances are you may have heard of the DRX9000 machine already. Perhaps even your chiropractor has already mentioned the non-surgical treatment option of the DRX9000 table.

Due to the complex nature of our backs, it is hard to generalize symptoms to common causes. The lower vertebrae consists of disks and joints, and for different reasons either the discs or joints can become weak or damaged. With these weak or damaged discs or joints, pressure can build up on neighboring nerves in the spinal column, in turn causing the chronic lower back pain.

Spinal decompression aims to relieve this pain by alleviating the pressure on the nerves. Doing this with surgery can be quite a daunting prospect since the spinal cord needs to be exposed and worked on to relieve this pressure. Alternatively, for many patients the DRX9000 machine can achieve the same results without any surgery at all.

The DRX9000 spinal decompression table uses a type of traction therapy. More specifically, a “dis-traction” method that instead of pulling on the whole spinal column at once, it can isolate the problem areas and focus the treatment with a series of oscillating pulling and relaxing movements. This method allows the damaged disc some space to breath as the vertebrae on either side will now be further apart.

Surgery for chronic lower back pain is hardly the most appealing prospect for anyone, so in a lot of cases the non surgical alternative is not a difficult choice.

Many chiropractors would have you believe that the DRX9000 is the answer to any and all back pain, guaranteed to provide you with relief. While it may be true for a number of people, just as with any alternative therapy or even surgery the success rate is nowhere near 100%. It can be difficult to get a treatment program for the DRX9000 paid for by a lot of insurance companies, so a lot of the time patients would have to foot the bill themselves.

A round of treatments can vary in length — anywhere from two weeks to a few months of regular visits. Most cases involve 30-45 minutes of therapy per session, with daily or bi-daily visits for the first week or two. After the first week the sessions usually drop to 1-3 times a week. The amount of therapy given does heavily depend on the severity of the symptoms and the individual response rate of the patient. Treatments can range in price depending on where you go, but usually they cost from $80-$150 per session, with around 20 sessions usually prescribed as the initial treatment. This adds up to around $1600-$3000 for the treatment, which doesn’t sound overly expensive when compared to surgery. However, often it turns out the patient will request or need further treatments, and someone taking treatments from the DRX9000 can easily end up having 3-5 rounds of treatments, making the total costs higher.

Anyone who has suffered, or even knows someone who suffers from chronic lower back pain probably knows all too well that it can be hard to find suitable relief without having surgery, and even having surgery doesn’t guarantee the pain will go away. For many the DRX9000 spinal decompression system can be a viable alternative and certainly worth investigating as a chronic lower back pain treatment option.

You should always be sure to consult your physician before considering using the DRX9000 spinal decompression system or any other medical course of action. This article is for general information only and should not be used as a substitute for sound, professional medical advice.

By: Ken Harrison

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What is supposed to be a fun and exciting time, can turn into a lifelong of pain and suffering in the blink of an eye with spinal cord injuries. This is according to Orange County and Los Angeles spinal cord injury lawyers and even physicians who deal with these debilitating conditions.

You could be out having a relaxing drive at the beach, enjoying a day at the amusement park with family and friends, at the park getting exercise riding your bicycle, trying out the new motorcycle you just purchased, or diving into the swimming pool, enjoying the sun.

While you are involved with doing any one of these activities, you never know when something can go wrong and an accident occur, which could cause you or one of your family members to suffer from a serious spine or spinal cord injury.

If you have been involved in some type of accident in Newport Beach, Anaheim Hills, Santa Ana, or Los Angeles area, and you have suffered from a herniated or bulging disc, it is important that you retain the services of a professional attorney who specializes in spinal cord injuries and wrongful death. They will review and study the legalities surrounding your case and ensure that you receive the highest settlement possible.

You could very well be suffering from a number of painful symptoms due to your herniated or ruptured disc, whiplash or spinal cord injury. Some possible symptoms that commonly occur in these types of spine injuries are tingling or numbness in the legs or the arms, sharp or stabbing pain in the lower back – or lumbar region of the spine, dull aching pain that seems to travel down the legs, pain in the shoulder or neck area – known as the cervical area of your spine, and numerous other symptoms.

When you or one of your family members have been involved in an accident that has caused a spinal injury such as a herniated disc, bulging disc or spinal cord injury, more often than not, you would require the professional and specialized care of a neurosurgeon and possibly the expertise of physical therapists for a lengthy period of time.

An injury of this nature not only affects yourself, but your entire family as well. Not just in physical aspects, but emotional aspects. Injuries of this nature are common for causing severe depression and other psychological problems.

By: Michael Ehline

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Over 80% of Americans will experience back pain sometime during their lives. The vast majority experience acute pain and will get better, without treatment or with conservative therapies, within four to six weeks. About 5 percent experience chronic pain lasting longer than three months, according to the Mayo Foundation for Medical Education and Research.

Ordinarily, spine surgery will not be considered unless conservative non-surgical measures have failed, and even then, “open” spine surgery is not often recommended. While most published statistics claim a success rate of approximately 80% for “open” spine surgery, physician practice reports that the actual success rate for open spine surgery is closer to 50%. “Open” spine surgery utilizes a large incision and often detaches spine muscles to visualize the spine, thus causing considerable trauma to the patient.

“Over 10 years ago, if you had spine surgery, you could expect it to take as much as one year before you would be able to return to normal activities. Minimally invasive techniques, however, are changing the face of spine surgery,” the Cleveland Clinic reports.

“Minimally invasive surgery is a developing new field, which is being performed by a limited number of spine surgeons for a very limited number of procedures. Like “building a ship in a bottle,” there is a steep learning curve for surgeons learning to do these procedures. Although the recovery is often faster, the complication rate during surgery can be greater and the results not as predictable when the surgery is performed by surgeons who have not become totally skilled at these newer techniques,” wrote Thomas Lowe, M.D., former Clinical Professor in the Department of Orthopaedics at the University of Colorado.

A pioneer who developed and perfected this type of surgery is Alfred O. Bonati, M.D. In 1993, he patented his arthroscopic method which utilizes a laser for removing protruding tissue and bone that press against spinal nerves and has been treating patients on an outpatient basis ever since. Dr. Bonati also developed and patented specially designed instruments for use with his patented arthroscopic method and has performed over 20,000 successful minimally invasive spine procedures known as The Bonati Procedures(sm).

At The Bonati Institute(sm), the patented surgical procedures, gentle enough to be classified as outpatient procedures, utilize the smallest, incision possible, usually 3mm to 5mm in diameter, and avoid dissection of the muscles surrounding the spinal column. Recognized worldwide for their innovation and effectiveness, The Bonati Procedures have given thousands of patients back their lives.

By: Robert K. Hillier, M.D.

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There are several kinds of spinal surgery that are done to alleviate pain. There is microdiscectomy (formerly known as lumbar laminectomy), lumbar fusion, fixation, and decompressive laminectomy. These are some of the more common and frequently performed procedures done for patients suffering from spinal pain and injury.

Surgeries

Microdiscectomy

Microdiscectomy is a surgery that is done for patients who have just a herniated disc or a simple ruptured disc. There should be no other problems with your spine besides this. It is done through a small incision, usually about an inch or less, if your doctor has the special instruments and magnification to do so. This causes less damage to the muscle and that means less pain and quicker recovery time for you. Most patients these days are using epidural instead of the general anesthesia. In this surgery, the doctor will only remove the ruptured part of the disc since the disc is the cushion between your vertebrae.

Lumbar Fusion

Lumbar Fusion is done for patients that need to have more stability between their vertebrae. The patient will get a bone fusion from their back, pelvis, or an artificial bone supplement. The bone will be prepared and fused between the vertebrae that are unstable. This procedure will allow for new bone growth and it will also stop motion involving those vertebrae. For about three months after the surgery, patients will wear a back brace to allow the bone graft and vertebrae to fuse together. There will be several x-rays to see if there is any need for internal fixation (rods and screws) if the fusion is not where it needs to be.

Fixation

Fixation of the fusion may be required if there needs to be more stability to the spine. Rods and screws will be used to make the spine more rigid and to stabilize the fused bones. When there is a concrete fusion of the bones, there really is no need to have the rods and screws removed.

Decompressive Laminectomy

Lastly, there is decompressive laminectomy which is mostly used for patients that have a small spinal canal (spinal stenosis). This condition is frequently due to arthritis in the spinal canal that cause the bone spurs and broadening of the ligaments. This will cause pressure on the spinal cord and nerves. The doctor will remove bone from the spinal canal to allow more room for the nerves and spinal cord. The incision will be longer than the microdiscectomy and the patient will usually spend a night or two in the hospital.

Also, make sure that your doctor explains all the details of the surgery. You need to know what will be done to your spine, how long recovery will take, and what are some problems that may occur. Your doctor should be willing to sit down with you and talk about all of these things and any further questions you may have for him/her.

By: Budda Oliver

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There are great advances taking place in minimally invasive spine surgery. In order to benefit from them, the healthcare consumer must take an active role. The best healthcare will not find you; you have to seek it out. While the United States offers the highest standard of healthcare in the world, a vast treatment variation still exists based on the doctor and the spine center you choose. These will determine the results you will receive.

Minimally invasive surgery is a name given to wide a range of procedures with a common goal: treatment that is less traumatic to the patient and that allows a faster return to a normal lifestyle and activities. All spine surgery carries with it a significant degree of patient risk, but true “minimally invasive surgery” performed only by a skilled, experienced surgeon, dramatically affects whether or not you have a chance of being free of back pain.

Because quality of life issues are at stake, patients considering minimally invasive spine surgery should ask detailed questions about, and perform their own due diligence, to ensure that they are making the right decisions about their medical care. The following are some of the more important things to focus on:

First, look beyond the claims of the number of surgeries “performed” at a spine center compared to the percentage of successful surgeries. “Success” should be defined as restoration of function and return to daily activities without impairment and with minimal, if any, pain. It is important for anyone considering this type of surgery to keep in mind that more than one surgery may be required to achieve the expected results.

Secondly, do your research and gather as much information as you can on the actual mechanics of the procedure. How large is the incision? Some surgical centers, claiming that they are “minimally-invasive,” actually work through incisions of four to six inches, rather than the smaller incisions that skilled surgeons at true “minimally invasive” centers employ. This may not seem like a big difference, but a few inches dramatically affects tissue trauma, blood loss and rate of healing. It also speaks to the experience level of the surgeon – and you want a very experienced surgeon performing your operation.

If a spine center claims that they can perform more than one surgery on your spine in one day, be suspicious. “Minimally-invasive” not only applies to surgery performed and the size of the incision, but also to the incremental nature of the surgical protocol. True minimally invasive, advanced laser spine surgery separates each procedure by at least one week.

It’s vital to think about these issues carefully. Truly informed patients are much better able to deal with adverse consequences than patients who don’t have the all the facts, or who rush into making a decision.

“Over 10 years ago, if you had spine surgery, you could expect it to take as much as one year before you would be able to return to normal activities. Minimally invasive techniques, however, are changing the face of spine surgery,” the Cleveland Clinic reports.

By: George Thorry

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Think of the pelvis as your foundation. If your foundation is unstable then other structures must take up the slack such as the muscles of the spine and back. This is a job they were never designed for.

Spine stabilization starts with learning how to keep the spine NEUTRAL when performing stabilization exercises and then learning to maintain NEUTRAL throughout life. Neutral does not mean straight. It means allowing the natural curves of the spine to be present. It is imperative to allow the spine to function As soon as one can maintain neutral spine, the next progression is to strengthen the core. This is where properly taught pelvic stabilization and lower abdominal re-training is paramount because to control the spine is to control the pelvis. The pelvis is the foundation of the body where the spine attaches. As we stated previously, if the foundation is off the rest of the house is off. Therefore, lack of pelvic control leads to lack of spinal control.

How does one control the pelvis? Through core-strengthening exercises that engage the lower abdominal wall and oblique muscles function properly and movement to occur in a stress-free manner. How is this done? NOT by sit ups or crunches. The prevailing myth is that crunches and leg raises will strengthen the all-important 6-pack abs. Unfortunately crunches and leg raises actually cause back issues to get worse by causing increased pressures and stresses on the disks.

Lower abdominal training is the place to start because it’s the foundation or the “core” of the body. Training the lower abdominal wall with proper abdominal firing places less stress on the vertebral discs and effectively activates the outer unit musculature (movement system). This allows proper muscle activation at the right times, with proper movement patterns and less stress to tissues and greater muscular and mechanical efficiency as the end result.

Core training involves proper lower abdominal contraction or Abdominal Bracing. This involves coordinated firing of the abdominal wall while deactivating the hip flexors and keeping the upper body and legs relaxed. Learning this concept and the concept of spine stabilization with neutral spine will naturally lead to learning how to find, maintain and work within the parameters of coordinated spinal mechanics.

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To Learn more about to have to have a happy and healthy back, through exercise please see our upcomming book, “back to feeling great”.

By: Bryan Fass

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Sustaining any injury in today’s world comes with a host of complications that extend far beyond the mere physical effects of the bodily harm itself. For a working individual, depending on the nature and severity of the wounds it may be temporarily or even permanently impossible to return to a job in one’s chosen field. This can introduce a lasting impediment to your ability to earn income and the resulting financial hardship may be extreme. Furthermore, the costs of even basic medical care are astronomically expensive in the current health care market, so life-saving or ongoing treatments for serious injury can financially cripple a family.

Spinal cord injuries (SCI) are among the most difficult to bear because the effects are often irreversible and exceptionally far-reaching. The spine protects the connections that link the brain and the nerve endings, and any injury disrupts the flow of electrical signals between the two can produce disastrous results.

Possible Effects of Spinal Cord Injuries

The effect of a spinal cord injury depends largely upon the severity of the injury and the vertical placement on the spine. Generally the communications below the point of the wound will be compromised, so the severity of SCIs increases as the injury’s location moves higher up. Some of the possible effects of these injuries include:

Partial paralysis (paraplegia) Total paralysis (quadriplegia) Loss of sensation Loss of muscular control Inability to breathe independently Incontinence

While some of these effects can be nominally remediated through treatment and therapy, the improvement is likely to be minor at best.

Common Causes of SCI

One commonly misunderstood element of injuries to the spine is the frequency with which they occur. Though the vertebrae provide substantial protection for the spinal cord under normal circumstances, this defense mechanism does not handle extreme impact, compression, extension, or torsion nearly so well. As a consequence of this range of threats, spinal cord injuries can occur as a result of a variety of different incidents or accidents. Some of the most common causes of spinal cord injuries include:

Automobile accidents Violent assaults Slips, trips, and falls Sport-related injuries

What to Do When You Have Suffered an Injury to the 

Most SCIs can be attributed to negligence on the part of another individual or entity. For example, a drunk driver or the manufacturer of a defective tire could each be deemed responsible for an automobile accident. To provide for your family and for your long-term medical care, it is highly advisable that you speak with an experienced Houston spinal cord injury attorney.

By: Joseph Devine

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A herniated thoracic disc can be one of the most painful and frustrating conditions to live with. This article will discuss 3 simple tips you can use at home for relief.

Before we go through the 3 home care steps I will be recommending for you, we need to discuss what a herniated thoracic disc is so the tips make sense.

The discs of the spine are cushions that are found between each set of vertebrae (bones of the spine). They are a special type of ligament that is responsible for holding the bones of the spine together, but also acting as shock-absorbers so you don’t feel pain whenever you move.

The way the discs are made is also special. They have a strong outer covering and a jelly center. The jelly in the center of the disc is really important, because this is where the disc stores oxygen and nutrition for proper healing.

When a disc herniates, the strong outer covering tears, and the jelly begins to push through where the outer covering is weakest. This creates a bulge in the disc, which unfortunately usually occurs where the nerves of the spine are located.

What’s interesting about the discs of the spine is that they are designed to not feel pain. This makes sense, if you think about it, because if they could feel pain sensations, you would hurt every time you move!

So, if this is true, why is a herniated thoracic disc so painful? The pain from this condition is actually from the pressure on the nerve.

The nerves of the spine are very sensitive, and even the slightest pressure applied to them can cause severe pain.

Not only that, when a disc herniates and applies pressure to a nerve of the spine, the body goes through a process called inflammation, which causes even more pain. The body will rush blood to the area to try and heal the nerve, which causes additional swelling around the nerve, causing more pain.

The pain, however, is really less important than the disability that can occur from a herniated thoracic disc. The nerves of the spine control everything in the body, so if a nerve is being pinched by a bulging disc, whatever the nerve controls will start to malfunction as well.

The nerves located in the thoracic spine control a number of different parts of the body, including the immune system, heart, lungs, liver, gall bladder, pancreas, kidneys, and adrenal glands.

Because of this, it’s very common for a person suffering with a herniated thoracic disc to experience symptoms such as pain in the middle back, pain traveling around the rib cage, chest pains, shortness of breath, indigestion and heartburn, frequent infections and illnesses, and lack of energy.

So, now that we’ve discussed what a herniated thoracic disc is, and the most common symptoms associated with it, let’s discuss the causes of the condition, and then we’ll discuss 3 helpful tips that will provide relief.

The most common cause of most disc conditions is trauma – whether it be a car accident, a fall, a sports injury, or any other type of force applied to the spine. This can cause the outer covering of the disc to tear, resulting in the disc herniation.

There is also a genetic component to this condition. If you have a family history of spinal problems, you may be predisposed to developing a spinal disc condition.

A herniated thoracic disc can also be caused by toxins building up in the body (whether from poor diet, or problems with the cleansing organs of the body such as the kidneys, liver, and spleen). These toxins can weaken the outer covering of the spinal discs, making them weaker.

What can you do about this condition? Well, most doctors would treat this condition with medications, pain injections (such as cortisone or epidurals), physical therapy, and surgery (as a last resort). Unfortunately, the success rates of these treatments are not very good.

There are alternatives (such as chiropractic and massage therapy), which can also be very effective, but the 3 tips I’m about to give you can be used at home, and should help with your pain levels.

The first thing you can do from home for relief is to use ice. Remember when we were discussing earlier how the body will go through inflammation when there is pressure on the disc? Well, as the body is rushing blood to the aggravated nerve, the area will get very hot because blood is hot.

Knowing this, does it really make sense to apply heat to the problem area? This is what most people do, and heat is truly the worst thing you can do if you are in pain.

When using ice for relief, you must follow these rules. Use real ice rather than a substitute, and apply it directly to the skin over the painful area. Leave the ice on for 15 minutes, or until the area becomes numb, whichever comes first. Then, repeat the ice treatment every hour. Repeating the ice treatment will typically result in relief in about 3 days.

The second tip I will recommend for you is to bounce on a therapy ball. A therapy ball is one of those large balls you see in health clubs or physical therapy clinics. Although this may sound somewhat silly, it will actually help quite a bit with providing relief for your herniated thoracic disc.

Simply sit on the therapy ball and gently bounce up and down for about 5 minutes every day. This pumps the discs of the spine, and pumps in new oxygen and nutrition into the jelly of the discs for faster healing. This works for every disc of the spine, no matter where it is located.

The 3rd and final tip I’ll give you is to use a pain-relieving gel called Biofreeze. You can find Biofreeze online, and in most chiropractic clinics, but you simply want to apply it over the painful area. This gel will provide relief for 4 – 6 hours.

If you would like to learn more about what you can do for herniated thoracic disc pain, please visit http://www.healyourbulgingdisc.com.

By: Dr. Ron Daulton Jr.

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After weeks of trying painkillers alone, I finally went to sports rehab for help with her agonizingly painful lumbar spine problem. To my surprise, physical therapy was a relief to my back pain, and I was able to leave the facility an hour later, walking fully upright for the first time in weeks. Thanks to a wonderful contraption called a traction bed, that stretched out my spine and relieved the pressure on the lumbar area.

What is traction? The physical therapist first put me in a harness. They had me wear a vest-like apparatus, and attached another one to go the opposite way, as I lied down on the traction table, with pillows under my head. Then, they hooked me to a Tens Machine (I’ll explain that in a moment) and then turned on both systems. It felt wonderful, I could’ve stayed there all evening. After roughly twenty minutes, they unhooked me, and I was amazed to be able to walk around much more comfortably than when I walked in the place. Whoever invented this wonderful apparatus did back pain sufferers a really big favor.

What is a Tens Unit? It is a machine that emits minor electrical pulses to the area that is in pain, working the muscles and giving relief to the area. There are different kinds of pulses, some ping and some pulse, but they all feel great. I had the physical therapist crank it up as high as possible, and it made my pains go away for the time I was using it. Amazing. I’d been doubled over with serious pain, even with medicines like Celebrex and Tylenol with Codeine in my system. This worked better than both of those together, hands down.

On the wall was a poster, explaining the spine, in minute detail. Very interesting. It’s much more complicated than I could ever imagine. I had the therapist show me where my L5 lumbar area was, because that is where the herniated disk is. Half the benefit of going to physical therapy is the instruction on what to do with your problem. They teach you how to get up correctly without straining your back, what the best position for sleeping with a bad back (on your back with a pillow under your knees), and other useful mobility tips. Hearing all the correct ways to treat my body, it was apparent to me that I’ve really been abusing my poor spine for most of my life. No wonder I’ve had lesser bouts of back pain for the last twenty years, culminating in a more severe case this time around. I learned my lesson.

The therapist told me to slowly, gradually, build up my stamina by walking and doing light exercizes. He told me to listen to my body, if I feel pain then it’s time to stop. I did a little walking this evening. Thanks to the traction therapy, I am much more comfortable. It will be a long and slow recovery from sciatica but at least I now know there is hope. Having to go to a spine doctor and for physical therapy for the first time in my life was initially really scary to me. But, truthfully, it was an unexpected relief. Nobody gave me shots in my spine, or manhandled me. There wasn’t any torturous pain inflicted on me, just a few tests to see how strong or weak my muscles are, a CT scan and a few x-rays. I heard another patient ask the therapist what happens if the physical therapy doesn’t work. The next step is getting shots in the back, he said. No way, I told him to fix me, so I never need to get to that level of treatment. The next level of treatment after those shots is surgery. I want to avoid all of that, and am glad to know that they don’t push these things on us. They wait to see how we respond. And, I can tell that the therapy is working, so I am going to build up my stamina by doing as told.

If you suffer from crippling back pain, make sure to go to a specialist and have him look at your back. He will probably give you pain killers and prescribe physical therapy. I reccommend it, and wish you a speedy recovery. I’m so glad I finally went. No more toughing it out for me. It gives me hope of a pain-free future and shows it’s needless to suffer in silence. Been there, done that.

By: Carolyn McFann

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